If you follow me on Twitter, you’d know I had absolutely nothing to wear a week before our corporate Christmas ball. Call it absurd but I had everything but the dress. I grew up in a household where one’s wardrobe’s built around the accessories and the makeup. So yes, as usual, I crammed for the dress the last minute. Here’s what made up my look:

1 peso coin vs. earrings for scale

Are these earring absolutely jaw-dropping gorgeous or what?!? These ain’t mine (I wish!) but my aunt’s who’s a jeweler (email me for quotes!). These dangling earrings can be converted to hoop earrings and the section that dangles (the centre stone’s 1ct each) can be used as pendants. I paired it with a tennis bracelet that’s made up of 20 something ct diamonds. I would’ve worn this 1.1 ct ring but it would be too much already (but it’s hella beautiful!).

Gents — if you’re proposing…let’s talk!

A week before the ball, I was still haunting for the perfect tools to get the “perfect look”. By “perfect look” I mean just my usual look but extra photogenic (you’ll never know where those photos’ll show up!). LOL I hauled the last minute and pooled these new toys to the ultimate test:

NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat Golden Beige x Sleek Makeup Blush in Suede
both available from Digital Traincase

Can I say that I’m absolutely hooked on these two pans? This HD powder foundation from NYX’s super makinis. I love applying it with my Charm Flat Top brush then mist into place using Evian. Sleek Makeup Blush in Suede contours my face to perfection. You’ll see later why I love this!

I used my new toys from Benefit Cosmetics to set my brows and give my tan a “boost” from within.

Brows A-Go-Go‘s great for those who want to either keep things simple or don’t have time to do full on eye makeup. Though not pictured, it comes with a pair of tweezers and eye shadow/brow brush. The two eyebrow powders work great in achieving one’s perfect shade of brown while the wax sets everything in place. The light powders do an amazing job brightening the brow bone in a jiffy.

Cha Cha Tint on the other hand’s my kind of cheek tint — not red (I have enough redness already!), not pink, yet makes my golden skin tone blush. It doesn’t have shimmers but it makes me “glow from within”.

Ben Nye LiquiSet is something new to my boudoir. It’s a water-based mixing medium meant to be used with Ben Nye’s MagiCake Aqua Paints, Liquid Paints, Lumiere Colors, Color Cake, and Cake Eyeliner to get that smudge proof finish. Instead of mixing it with my eye shadows as I applied it, I used an extra fluffy synthetic blending brush to lightly dab the solution on my finished eye makeup. The result was amazing. My eye makeup didn’t crease, flake, fade, nor streaked on me. I love this sealant! Get yours from The Style Quarter stat!

Last but not the least, I pulled the trigger — marshmallow pink lips aka. Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color SPF 12 in Bikini Pink (this reminds me of MAC Overtime). It’s a semi-opaque colour I’ve been using a lot lately. I love the hue to bits though I wish it lasted longer on me! :(

Mug shot time! I fired the flash two ways: the way it should then made it super harsh to make sure that even if my face is washed out, I’d still have hints of colour left and right.

S’more snaps from our awesome ball:

D, myself, R, and our boss J

This is when my hair started to have a life of its own LOL

Yes, my purse matched not my dress nor shoes but my eyes. :)

why I tested my makeup for harsh flash :)

the face you make when your feet start hurting from all the dancing