How to Recycle Beads and Button for Beauty

our own handcrafts from sea glasses, beads, and miscut stones

Normally, we get loose button, ribbons or bead that we simply itch to throw to the nearest bin, however, if we just have a little time, we can create grand handcrafts from all these little buggers.


Normally, we make earrings, bracelets, and necklaces and they don't have to come from a book; any free form simply fits us well.


So, the next time you see loose buttons or beads wandering around your place, gather all them up because you too can even make beautiful handicrafts including scrapbooks, cards or simply freebies for your loved ones and I am quite sure, they will appreciate your thoughts more.

Our Boutique's Personalized Service

personally attending to clients


Just like how we did our service to our clients in our old store, we try to create a more friendly relationship with our clients. And, if we see that their choice of clothing does not fit them well, we admit this with all sincerity even if it means not having a sale. 

However, we are not afraid to lose them because eventually, they shall see us again and make regular sales in the future or recommend us to their friends and acquaintances. Personalized services don't cost a thing, only grateful clients. 

How to Care of Your Precious Bags

We sell   bags among our other store stuffs and normally, they get more sold much faster than our clothing apparel. I personally have my own vanity on bags and keeping them all stacked in my room that they are likely to gather dust or molds. 

But, here  are the basic tips to make sure that your bags last longer than they should be:

1. Don't keep your bags covered with plastic as this constrict your bags' breathing; use instead a cloth bag;

2. Bring them out in an open space for air;

3. Lightly brush, iron (if needed) with the right temperature and through a paper or another cloth to protect your bag;

4. Don't use strong chemicals; a regular brushing will suffice;

5. Go for natural drying should your bag gets wet;

6. Pick out the right care depending on your bag's materials like leather, canvas, polyester, nylon and alike. 

How to Be Safe and Fashion Trendy

It is almost essential for most women to bring our bags to stuff basic essentials to include beauty stuffs, moisturizer, pen, book, sanitizer among other things. Personally, I have to bring a big bag, so, I can practically bring all my stuffs along with my teaching books and papers. 

I am not a 100% compulsive organizer, but, I quite commend anyone who can stuff their bags even first aid meds,  extra lingerie, oral care and few foods to top it all.  Others may say this is an over preparation, but for the wiser, I call it  proactive protection just like  health insurance in nc   that can help you with your health needs.

It may be awkward to bring big bags but I would not want it otherwise because I like to wander around with ease and comfort should I need anything from my bag. 

Fashion Tips on Personality Boost

Personality is subjective, distinct and disastrous as it affects how self - esteem must be exercised. If you are not confident with yourself, then, your personality illustrates this intrinsic mood.  A media hype on  how beauty is defined by lanky models and  elegant wardrobes does not at all contribute to being confident. 

However, what separates you and a model from having a great personality is the personal motivation to improve your physical appearance and this may mean losing the extra weight through exercise, imploring treatments to  treating adult acne  ,  body odor, and other unpleasant physical conditions. Further, you can do a makeover on your wardrobe by being innovative and aggressive with different colors and styles.

 

You have to however, note that any new effort or innovation is vain unless you BELIEVE that you are beautiful inside and out, and picking the right clothes and attending to your physical flaws is only icing on a beautiful cake. This way, your social and personal relationship improves dramatically.

How to Select the Best Perfume Scents

Our Victoria Secret collections and are up for sale


The choice for the best perfume is distinctly based on your personal preference. You may like fruity, or flower scents,  grass or woody smells; what seems to be odd - smelling perfume to others may appear pleasant to some. Thus, the basic rule of thumb in selecting perfume is what you would love to smell on you.

If you are to test which is scent is better, try to dab  separately on your wrist and smell it individually. Mixing the perfume on the same wrist will cloud your choice. 

Further, a scent may differ as it stays on your skin; the fresh spray may be different after a few minutes on your wrist and if the smell seems pleasant to you, then, you are in for your best perfume.

Wearing perfume is simply like wearing any fashion accessory or apparel; it must first and foremost, make you more confident, vibrant and beautiful among others. 

Basic Tips to Taking Care of Your Bra

As a woman, bra or brassiere is simply essential for support among its other reasons, however, this seems to be too impossible to take care of and may seem to require special laundry strategy to not ruin the fabric, style or color.

Personally, I hand wash my stuffs along with my working clothes, so, not to be too harsh with the fabric. We have our washing machine though but the stretching and cycling makes my clothes gradually worn out. Thus, the hand wash solves this and this has been my secret over a couple of years. If I am too loaded to do the washing, I let someone do the toil. 

But, brassiere is of different dimension and a special care is indeed required. And, most women may find this quite a problem too. You can try, however, the following tips:

1. If you are using a machine washer, make sure that the  hooks are fasten and the brassieres are set in low setting;

2. It will also protect more your precious stuffs if they are placed in a zip lock net bag, so, you can wash your bra along with other light stuffs like socks, towels and alike. Make sure too that you wash it with stuffs of similar color;

3. If you are to do hand washing, never wrinkle or twist your bra especially if they have padded foams or wires, so, not to deform;

4. Hang dry your bra on a rack or lie flat to further protect it.

House Arrested Running Shoes Again

My latest pair of running shoes is a white Reebok with  blue  highlights and has been my shoes for over a year. It is still up and ok however, with constant use, you can only expect it to show signs of wear.

The  shifting weather, however, in the Philippines makes me miss my daily jogs and weekend taebo, thus, my  running shoes have been on closed keep until I am well from my colds and can muster my energy to hit the running tracks again.  Jogging/running is a good medium to encourage better blood and oxygen circulation throughout the body and proven to  be effective in preventing various illnesses like colds or cancer.  Further, it is quite effective in addressing stress, reducing weights, and increasing bone density against osteoporosis. 

Health experts oftentimes say that if you wish to cut down your weights, you have to go for diets for quick weight loss , exercise like jogging, and healthy lifestyle. 

I am way past 30 years old with bone problems, thus, jogging is only more suitable for me. We can only be proactive when it comes to our health, and it must start soon.

Tips on Picking the Right Cocktail Dress for You

Sarah Geronimo during her Gensan City 2009 concert

Style experts shall say that nude colors like black or beige shall do are safe and fine but if you really want to stand out in the crowd without looking out - of - place or lost in another world, I still believe on these basic rules on cocktail dress:

1. Pick colors that complement your skin tone. If you are pale, a contrasting like black or red can accentuate your looks;
2. Pick styles that hide your flaws but highlight your assets; If you have a bulging tummy, highlights on the neckline can draw more attention to your upper body. 
3. Consider your height. Long dresses for petite people will surely make them shorter.
4. Wear complementing accessories including bags and footwear.
5. Show confidence in what you wear. If you believe that you look good, this is actually exuded in your aura as you walk on the red carpet. This shall highlight more your cocktail dress and not the other way around.

Painting Our Boutique Store Red

Red is a color of passion, assertiveness, enthusiasm, elegance and happiness but with all these meanings, I simply love red that I prefer it more than other subtle colors. With too much liking, I simply have half of my wardrobes and things in any hue of red. But, red paint for our store is not simply a matter of preference; my Feng Shui, a Chinese belief of balancing the laws of heaven and earth for comfortable living, says that red is lucky for our store. What a sweet coincidence of fate, huh!

We move our store opening to July 18 to give way to other nitty -  gritty details including hangtags, labels, posters among others. I consider print advertisements, swiper machine, or sell merchant account  for more revenues.

Feng Shui may be believed to be a scam for marketing or a subjective and unscientific claim for better results, however, I can only need all the help I can get for an efficient and effective administration of our business.  Lots of luck is all I need with our hard work.

How to Pick Out the Right Stockings for You

I rarely wear skirts as I don't have great legs, blame it to being a tomboy when I was younger; however, when you are an office girl, it is not unusual that you are required to be on skirts to form part of your uniform. 

Although, the weather in the Philippines is quite humid and dry, you won't see many employees on stockings. However, to make those stockings complement and accentuate your aura and looks, you can employ the following tips:

• Pick the right color that blends naturally with your skin tone. Contrast colors may be sexy to highlight your legs but may be too loud for office use. 
• If you wear short skirts, it  is wiser to wear pantyhose to keep the stockings up although there are tight - holding stockings that can cling to anywhere you like it.
• With various outfits  and shoe styles, there are stockings that can blend well with your other outfit.
•  Use durable and comfy stockings that may last through wear and tear.

Rescheduling Boutique's Opening

We were supposed to open this July 8 for good luck but  we are left with other nitty - gritty stuffs along with the completion of the signage and painting that force us to reschedule the opening day.

When we check the construction this late afternoon, the ceiling was all set but the entire place still requires final painting, shelfing, fixtures polishing, other essentials like  counter machines, pails like stainless steel drum  and display mirrors.

We shall design our hang tag label and with that, we can request for hang tag's job order along with our customized bags.

We still have to look for other lucky dates though so business can at least have good vibes to attract more sales; this new business simply needs good luck, hard work, innovations, and friendly market.

Accessorizing Old Bags

I simply got more than a dozen of bags and some were  already relinquished, so, to keep them from keeping dust and molds. 

But, my collection practically includes cheap and pricey ones of various names, sizes, colors and styles. But, most basic among my bags is to at least for my essentials to be fully kept and carried comfortably. So, in my teaching days, I quite have an oversized bag along with my laptop's tote.

Surprisingly though, I saw a strand of pink ribbon simply stashed away in our old cabinet together with an abandoned plain abaca bag. With an effortless creativity, I looped the strand into the holes for accentuation. 

Handcrafts including bags, shoes, furnitures especially patio furniture  exude extra-ordinary beauty  that price seems immaterial. 

I shall soon bring this old bag alive with a fancy pair of shoes and catchy outfit. Who says fashion and beauty  should be expensive?

Tips to Staying Young

When we past 20 years old, it is never unusual that we start thinking about how we age so easily and when adult age connotes career, personality and social stature, we seem to be too particular with its weight.

However, aging creates downsides too to include wrinkles among others. Wrinkles are attributed to factors like sun exposure, lifestyle, skin type, facial acts, age, stress and even genes. These wrinkles seem so natural but to look older than our present age seems a terrible nightmare especially among ladies. 

We quite envy celebrity's makeover and we quite wish we can have sufficient dough to go through cosmetic procedures. However, there  are fast, simple and less expensive ways to reduce or prevent wrinkles from occurring. 

To contain the downsides of aging, you can try the following tips:

1. avoid smoking;

2. take plenty of fluids, fruits and vegetables;

3. use sun block, moisturizer, and skin products rich in Retinols/Retinoids,  Alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and anti-oxidants;

4. use anti - wrinkling products like prevera ; 

5. undergo wrinkle removal like botox, fillers, chemical peels, laser resurfacing, and mircrodermabrasion;

6. limit facial acts like frowning; and 

7. learn to de-toxify and de-stress.

Boutique's Construction on the Go

We are halfway done with our store construction permanently situated in Gaisano Mall - Gensan and we hope to open on July 8 for continued good luck. We are through with the side walling, primer coating and fixtures  and will work on shelves, display racks and flooring as soon as we find less pricey materials to fill the store. 

Further, we shall be needing safety and entertainment  electronics  to have smoother and convenient store operations. 

It makes me more anxious that we may not make enough sales to compensate for the monthly rent, salary and other overhead costs, however, relocating the boutique to a more conspicuous place will improve our chances of selling our signature stuffs. 

Marketing and networking will surely improve our chances; we just have to take the risks and be innovative to survive. 

Needing a Boutique Bookkeeper

One of the common mistakes of failed establishments is the fact that they don't account their income against their operational costs and others. I don't want to go all our resources and business to the sewerage, so, I make sure that I keep records of every transaction I know. And, since the rest of the family pulled all their resources to start the business, I can only be accountable of all their investments and possible earnings.

However, family members had personally used the cash and stuffs from the boutique and I know this is not good at all. I am even personally guilty although I am paying my own dues too.

With the increasing stocks and transactions of sales, credit and expenses, my humble brain is quite challenged. Thus, I leave it to a professional bookkeeper to do the works. With a professional fee, I know I can see well how the business is doing.

If one really wants to have more savings, may it be in business or at home, you can have only two ways: increase revenues or cut costs. Thus, it pays to have special skills or trainings like energy auditor training to help you cut costs.

I have my basic knowledge in accounting but this is not sufficient to know the in's and out's of accounting. I guess I just have to leave the works to someone who is more competent and sane.

Beauty in Store

The nice thing about having a boutique is seeing only beauty and creative works of people worldwide. And, that alone can be enough to inspire anyone. 

And, when we like them for ourselves, we are pretty sure that our clients would love them too and be good in them.  So, basically, we don't sell what we think are not good on us. 

We did try to model our stuffs and we sure had great time sporting our goodies that we never failed to take pictures of them. We have more than dozens of pictures in my notebook that I wish to have bigger and more spacious  external hard drive  to keep everything. 

I don't want to erase the pictures, my fave movies and songs, so, having external drive can be a must.  And, when new stocks are coming, I have to scout for a drive soon enough.

Fashion Hunt

I was illiterate with fashion style before, geez, my closet was only made of three (3) colors: blue, brown and black. And, while everyone was partying, I dozed in books and movies alone. What  fun old - school days, huh.

But, when personality is quite linked to confidence, I somehow made a 360 - degree turn. If I detested red  and other colors before, now, I swarm my closet with all sorts of colors with complementing bags and shoes.

Further, if I chose not to draw attention before, this time, I love praises and stares and they really feel good.

So, it helps when you have people and online resources to help you pick the right colors, right style and right taste to highlight your assets and hide your flaws. Getting netbooks was indeed a big help to me especially now that I have a boutique to attend to.  I have to pick the right ones for my clients and help them get that confident looks and feel.

If you want an improved self - confidence, it starts with looking good first. 

Pick the Right Color for Your Skin Tone

I once liked blue, black and brown shades but they gave me an oldie look and when you are at the prime of your youth, having ill comments about your fashion taste can really be degrading. Hahhahahah! Now, I sport on red and  pink as my top colors and they suit me well.

I did search why some colors don't complement well with skin tones, and the answer only boils to nature's four seasons: winter, autumn, spring, and summer.

So, before the right color to highlight your skin tone, check out first which season you best fall. Here are the tips copied verbatim from ehow.com.

Determine Your Skin Tone

Step 1
Decide which season most accurately describes your complexion. People - and skin tones - can be divided into "seasons," depending on their skin tone.

Step 2
"Winter" complexions have blue or pink undertones. Skin can be pale white, yellowish-olive, or dark. Winter people are generally brunettes, with deeply colored eyes. Many Asians and African Americans fall into this category.

Step 3
"Summer" complexions, like winter complexions, have blue or pink undertones. Skin is pale and pink. Summers are often natural blondes or brunettes with pale eyes.

Step 4
"Autumn": Autumn complexions have golden undertones. Many redheads and brunettes with golden brown eyes fall into this category.

Step 5
"Spring": Spring complexions have golden undertones and are usually creamy white or peach. Spring people generally have straw-colored or strawberry red hair, freckles, rosy cheeks, and blue or green eyes.

Choose Clothes to Flatter Your Skin Tone

Step 1
"Winter": Winters should wear colors that are sharp, stark and clear. White, black, navy blue, red and shocking pink all go well with winter complexions. For lighter colors, wear icy tones rather than pastels. Avoid subdued tones like beige, orange and gold.

Step 2
"Summer": Summers should choose pastels and soft neutrals with rose and blue undertones. Lavender, plum, rose-brown and soft blue suit summers well while black and orange do not.

Step 3
"Autumn": Autumns should select colors with golden undertones, like camel, beige, orange, gold and dark brown. Avoid colors with blue tones, like navy.

Step 4
"Spring": Springs can wear warm colors like camel, peach, golden yellow and golden brown. Avoid dark, dull colors.

Thousand – Feet - Above - Water Fashion Tip

As I type, we are currently on board Cebu Pacific from Manila to Gensan. I am traveling with my kid and sibling after a week of hot and fun vacation with our other sibling.

The flight was delayed due to bad weather in Gensan early morning. Thus, we could only endure the long wait at the airport terminal.

It is always wisest to travel at comfortable shoes, tops and shorts or pants so you can just move around without much worry. And since almost Cebu Pacific flights were cancelled, the terminal seats were packed. We have to squabble ourselves on the floor with PSP, MP3 and laptop to keep us entertained.

It is always wiser to keep your basic essentials in a hand – carry tote bag just to keep you from getting bored and drained. Keep all your entertainment gadgets handy and makeup essentials accessible.