Marina’s Bloggariffic

Some weeks back, Nadnut and I were chatting on msn on the events that we were invited to. Though we both loved tech, we lamented at how nice it was if we were invited to beauty and fashion events as well.

I believe that all women, regardless of shape and sizes, love to look and feel good. Thats why it is always exciting for us to try out something new, be it clothes, or shoes.

One of them being Taaz.Com where you can play with virtual make up.

Hence, when Nadnut invited me to tag along with her to the Revlon makeup launch, I was so excited that I could not say no! I love Mekap!!!

I arrived at the Halia Restaurant in the Singapore Botanic Gardens where I saw a number of bloggers that I recognized as well as many other media representatives.

There was an opening speech by the Managing Director, Mr Art Miller and soonafter, we were introduced to Bree Sharpe, a Senior Trainer for Revlon who talked about the new ColorStay Mineral Collection and did a demonstration on one of the models.

The foundation had many nice features - it was long lasting, up to 16 hours, it had SPF of 10, as well as containing minerals such as rose quartz, mother of pearl and topaz. But what I loved about the foundation the most was that it was non irritating and even people with acne prone skin could wear it.

I listened to Bree retell her experience of travelling to different countries and how easy it was for other types of makeup to melt off in our tropical climate. The foundation, she said, lasted long enough for her jetsetting lifestyle and was gentle enough not to give her breakouts and it even healed her skin.

Coincidentally, I was at Watsons the day before and I noticed that it was already on sale, and Watsons is having a 20% sale off their cosmetics. So the foundation will cost about $26 instead of $29.90 :D

Next, it was time for celebrity make up artist, Andy Lee, to do a demonstration on using the 2008 Limited Edition Collection.

Watching him was like seeing a talented artist at work as he skillfully dabbed about the cosmetics on the models face and chatted amiably with the guests and shared with us the different make up techniques.

Doesn’t these look very pretty? I’m enamored by how beautiful the design of the eyeshadow collection are. Its like an artwork by itself! I thought the packaging rivals higher-end brand names but at a more affordable price.

I observed the other bloggers getting make up tips and impromptu eye make up from Andy and I desperately wanted to be made over too! But suddenly, I felt rather shy as all of the other bloggers were young, attractive, slim things … and I’m not :p

But Aaron was so gracious that he broke the ice and introduced Andy to me!

Andy Lee and a very smiley rinaz

I took a liking at him instantly as he was friendly and sweet man, who was generous in imparting his knowledge.

Here is a video (with thanks to Aaron as videographer) of Andy doing makeup for me!

Rinaz being made up by a mekap artist from rinaz on Vimeo

It was the most exciting experience that I had in a while. Me! Being made up by a celebrity make up artist! I was so enthralled! The day could not be any better.

Me, Feliza, Sabrina, Fidelis, Jessica, Art Miller, Esther, Nadia, Peggy and Averal

And thats when we had a goodie bag at the end of the day and uncharacteristically, I squealed out in delight.

Because in the bag, it contained :

• A ColorStay Mineral Foundation
• A ColorStay Mineral Blush
• A Renewist Lipcolor
• A 2008 Limited Edition - Floral Affair Blush
• A 2008 Limited Edition - Make a Sheen eyeshadow

How very generous! With that, I’ll be reviewing these makeup in a later post ahead :-)

Do you like mekap make up? What are your experience with them?

Related Links :

• Revlon ColorStay Mineral Foundation
• Revlon Limited Edition Collection
• Celebrity make up artist - Andy Lee’s Blog

Sidenote : I met Kenny Sia!

To cope being in a long distance relationship, food naturally became the source of comfort for me to fill up my emotional void. And then the signs started - not being able to fit in clothes as well as before, feeling even more lethargic than I had before.

Can’t fit into my beautiful white dress anymore :(

A recent blood test I had completely shocked me when the results came out saying that I was overweight. Overweight! I’ve never been overweight before! This was shocking to me as I’ve always grown up being skinny.

Rinaz at 12 years old. The true stickrinaz

And when Cart left to go back to Rome early January this year, I started to get very stressed out and my zits started to awaken from their dormancy. Pretty much like the last stress-attack I had two years ago.

I probably was undergoing one of the most unattractive lows in my life. Overweight and zittified. I could not just let this continue. I knew that I had to do something. But what?

One thing I knew was that I did not want to undergo drastic measures like diet pills. And yet, I cannot give up the food that I like as I still love food so much

I guess the doors opened when a friend asked me to join her for a cardiomix session at the sports Complex - at that point, I was keen to get my fitness level back.

And though it was really tough at the beginning, I still enjoyed my sessions, especially with the company that I had and eventually, I just fell into wanting to feel the adrenaline rush that I get after each session. I loved the feeling!

As for the zits, I decided to see a private doctor whom prescribed me Diane-35. At first I was a little doubtful as it was an oral contraceptive which will affect my hormones but the doctor reassured that it was safe and worldwide used pill.

After several months of consumption, I have to say how liberating it is to be able to post a picture without having to photoshop the zits away!

And it was only recently when I noticed this :

It might not be a 6 pack like what Uncle Sha has, but I can see something forming. And this really makes me motivated. The funny thing is that my weight is still the same. But I do feel better about myself than ever before.

Did you ever feel unpretty before? What do you do to feel good?

if you liked this post, you might enjoy :

• I am fat
• Cardio? No sweat!
• Evolution of face

Sidenote : If you were from Claudia’s looking for the HTC video, its not up yet :-)

Last week’s episode of America’s Next Top Model has completely inspired me to do this :

Lipschtick from rinaz on Vimeo

If you enjoyed this video, you might also enjoy :

• How to be pretty (or at least try to be)

I haven’t changed my glasses since 2001. The only issue that was holding me back was how insanely expensive glasses are for me. My last glasses were about $350. Being cheapskate frugal, I procrastinated upon getting new ones.

However, last week, I got so tired that I went to take a nap with my glasses on and accidentally bent them slightly as I slept. When I woke up, I felt dizzy when looking through the unaligned lenses.

I had to make new ones.

There were so many types that I didn’t know what to choose. Under the recommendation of the optician, he chose this pair for me and since being the neighbourhood optician, it wasn’t that expensive.

And I love it! It was surprisingly stylish and <shameless>I look really hot with the sexy secretary look going on</shameless> Forget contact lenses. I’ll be wearing glasses all the time now :)

What do you think?

Link : You just got to look at Moby’s glasses post :)

I love shoes.

I love to look at pretty shoes, running my fingers on them, trying them on. I love how a pair of shoe can transform a woman - how it accentuates the feminine saunter, to the boost of their height.

Unfortunately, I am also an extremely rough person. Its not uncommon for me to wear out a pair of shoe in about a month or less.

One of the more embarassing experiences I had was when I was wearing a pair of strappy shoes to work. After time, the straps decided to come apart. If you have ever worn strappy shoes, you know how impossible it is to try to put it back together.

In the end, I had to innovate by using a couple of rubber bands to hold the sole together temporarily before limping off to get a new pair of shoes during lunch time.

In Singapore, there are loads of pretty shoes here. You could go to any shopping center and find nice looking shoes that costs less than $19 sing dollars.

The trouble about these type of shoes is that they arent that well made and dont last for very long. In a short time, it will disintegrate - Heels will just fall out, or the soles will just give way. Here are just some of the shoes that I’ve (accidentally) killed.

The heels came apart on my first day of wearing these

The sole got torn up on a wet and rainy day

The insole collapsed and a piece of metal jutted out from the heel, making it extremely uncomfortable to wear

After a while, I thought to myself. I’m spending my money on cheap but low quality shoes when I should buy a slightly more expensive pair which will last me longer. But there is a limit though. As much as I would love to have a pair of Manolo Blahnik, its not wise for me to spend $800 for that. Actually, I’ve never paid more than $40 for shoes ever.

So when my trusty rainbow wedges are getting rather worn out, I was on my hunt for new shoes. I spotted this pair of lovely brown Marie Claire mini wedge shoes which was just perfect for me. It looked elegant and classic and was comfortable enough for me to ride a scooter and to be on the move.

It was nearly eighty dollars. Though it costs more than what I’d usually pay for shoes, after contemplating about it for a while, I thought to myself, “Why not. It’ll make a good science experiment to see how long it will last”

Its been about a week now and its holding up pretty well. I wonder how it will be like after a month. We’ll see ;)

I’m normally a slob who cant be bothered to dress up. But even slobs can look good!

Let me show you how you could go

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Inspired by Sha

I usually wear pants when I ride on my scooter. But I’m more of a skirt person. I’ve always worn and feel comfortable wearing skirts since for a very long time. Skirts fit me better than pants.

Now the front of a Vespa has an open area for the rider to rest their legs together, which makes it suitable for lady riders in skirts.There are even some ladies who are comfortable extremely short skirts.

People around me would always comment, “Arent you scared of wearing skirts?” But so far, days passed by without anything out of the ordinary happening.

Till one day while I was riding on the path to the carpark when a sudden gust of wind went so fast. I could not slow down to pull it down. How embarassing! But I feel sorry more for the astonished uncle whom was unfortunately nearby. His face turned a shade darker and then looked straight down for the rest of his journey - I think he was more embarassed by it than I was!

But people learn from mistakes.

I told myself that the next time that I wear dresses or skirts, I’ll wear a pair of tights underneath.

I chanced upon this pair of tights while walking in Sim Lim Square the other day:

The lady manning the store said that wearing a pair would allow someone to burn more calories as opposed to not wearing it. Wow, I thought to myself. 2 in 1! I could have a pair of tights, *and* lose weight at the same time.

The next morning, it took me a good 5 minutes struggling to put it on. When I was done, the tights clung tenatiously. It wasnt painful, just a bit uncomfortable and I passed through the entire day with it on.

Hmm .. lets see. I had it on from 8am - 6pm. So thats 10 hours.

10 x 430 = 4300 calories

I burned 4300 calories! Hooray!!!

But wait a minute, I still feel the same. I still look the same. I’m not even tired. Most importantly, why am I’m not dead yet? A typical person would burn 2500 calories a day. Too many calories burnt would mean severe exhaustion.

Perhaps I need to wear it long term. But I cant. The pair of tights isnt as strong as I expected and it was ripped on the very first day I got it.

So I hunted for another pair of tights. A knee high one. After searching unsucessfully in the entire mall for a pair, I stopped by Minoshe, one of my favourite lingerie shops. I examined and flipped through the rows of black and browns.

“Ooh, this isnt exactly what I wanted but this will do fine, I think. What is it?”

“This is a girdle“, The shop assistant answered.

“Huh?”

“A girdle is a pair of underwear which you put on to lift your butt and tuck in your tummy”

“Oh”

“We have two types here. A hard one made of wire and plastic. And the soft one, made of elastic and rubber. The hard one tucks in more, but its uncomfortable. The soft one is more comfortable, but it doesnt tuck in as much”

“Oh”

“Why dont you get one and try out?”

“Ok”

Wearing them makes me more self confident while riding my scooter in skirts. I dont worry so much when the wind blows. It looks like I’m wearing a pair of knee high tights.

But one thing is, I dont think it really does tuck in all that much.

Looks pretty much the same to me.