Audrey & Paolo: The Wedding

"After ten long years of friendship, two best friends made a commitment.  No longer were they bride and groom, now husband and wife."  That's how it was said by Fr. Mak, S.J.  Finally!

In a previous entry, I had described my friendship with Aud from it's early beginning.  Today, she was not just my friend, she was my princess!

Hair by Cora Lee

Photos by: Bambie Carlos

Audrey & Paolo

Four years in college is a pretty long time to get to know someone.   At the same time, it's also a short time to be with a great friend you see yourself staying in touch with till your married, have kids and pretty much the whole growing old together kind of thing.  Aud just happens to be one of those great friends!  I first met Aud during Orsem in Ateneo in the year 2003.  She was my blockmate and funnily enough, a soul sister.  We immediately hit it off as we were both nerds, OC (in the non-clinical sense), non-atheletic (we hated sweating), and just to give you an idea, we both can't swim and ride a bike.  But, we LOVE to EAT!  We loved eating so much that we would plan food trips, daydream about food in class, and take before and after pictures of our food just to find out how fast we ate.  Plus our friend Ericka, we formed our thesis group and called ourselves Katakaw-one.

                   4th year college after submitting our thesis                                        Graduation Day

In less than a week, my friend Aud is going to marry her best friend, Pao.  The two of them have been together since they were in High School and really guys, it's about time.  I am truly privileged to have been a part of their lives, and of course, a part of their prenup!

Hair by Cora Lee

Photos by Ed Casilao

Belinda & Jason: The Wedding

Not so long ago, I mentioned how I met a very warm and effortlessly beautiful person inside and out.  Well, not so long ago, Belinda and Jason tied the knot one rainy Sunday afternoon from what was supposed to be a garden wedding turned indoors.  In spite of the rain, nothing could turn Belinda's smile upside down, and the wedding was as bright and cheerful as the bride.

Hair by Cora Lee

Photos by Lianne Bacorro

Prepping the bride

  

Watermelon & Creamers, the flower girls 

Family Picture

Isabel & Justin

I met Isabel in a very unconventional way.  Let's just say we share a common interest for crystals and wellness and have been good friends ever since.  I am very close to her mom, Tita Yoli, who reminds me of my own mom.  Once in a while,we're even mistaken as sisters even though we hardly look anything alike.  Perhaps it's the same aura.

During my days as a makeup student, Isabel was kind enough to be one of my models for my session on red lips.  Being a natural beauty, Isabel didn't really need makeup, but the look was such a success that she asked me to replicate this look for her entourage on her wedding day.

It was an early Sunday morning when I made the trip to Hacienda Isabella.   I set up my kit and replicated the look I created for Isabel more than a year from her wedding on her five bridesmaids.  I'm really thankful I put that one down on a chart.  It was a beautiful wedding, and quite unique to have the bride sewing all the dresses of the entourage.  Even my dress was made by the bride herself.  It was simple yet elegant, just like Isabel.

Hair by: Cora Lee

Photos by: Aaron Ebio

Red lips on the 5 birdesmaids

Belinda & Jason

It was during the Christmas rush when I received a message from my sister, Caren if I was willing to do a pre-nup at 6:00 in the morning for one of her clients.  My Ate Caren is a photographer, and a very excellent one.  She's great to have on family trips for the company and the nice pictures!  

One early December morning, I met Belinda for the first time, and what a wonderful person she is!  I've never seen a person smile so much!  She welcomed me into her home along with her babies...Lhasa Apsos.  I've never seen so many of them!  There were at least ten of them.  I lost count, but they were so adorable!  I wanted to squish the puppies!  Then, she showed me into one of her rooms to see the pictures of her dogs, which Ate Caren took.

Afterwards, we went to her room and I did her makeup while her lovely babies were surrounding us.  Being the mama of a basset hound, we hit it off immediately.  If you do ever get to meet Belinda, you'll discover that she really is a wonderfully warm person, and one of those effortless beauties.

Hair by Cora Lee

Photos by Lianne Bacorro & Diane Capili

Belinda & Jason with Hammie and Friends

 Belinda & Jason

Anj & Mark

On my first year as a teacher, I met Anj who was to be my first and only head teacher and very good friend.  She is an amazing woman with a beautiful heart and needless to say, an excellent teacher!  It goes without saying that I met Mark, the love of her life.

I still remember the day Anj showed me the sparkling ring on her finger, which sent me jumping and screaming all around a tiny corridor in school. (It was a good thing class was over by then).  After my joyful screaming, she proposed to me and said, "Will you...do my makeup?"  How could I refuse!  Of course I said, "Yes, I will!"

Thank you Anj & Mark for making me a part of your special day!

Hair by Cora Lee

Photos by Jaja Samaniego

Me & Anj

Putting on the lips

Paula, Sister of the Bride and Maid of Honor

The Blushing Bride

Anj & Mark

Color Play: My Makeup Story

As children, we were always asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" For most people, what they say at four years old is quite far from what they want to be in high school, or what they eventually turn out to be in their adult life. I, on the other hand, was one of those fortunate ones who knew very early in life that I wanted to be a teacher. Although I did have those changes in between my four year-old self and my present self, one other career path I did want was makeup.

Makeup was something I started becoming interested in when I first tried on my mommy's eye shadow, or watched my Ate put on when she was working. I was in grade school then (we have a very big age gap). Since we look very much alike, she would make me wear her office clothes and I would try on her makeup. When high school came and it was prom season, I had a horrific experience of having my eyebrows shaved with a tailor's blade, and a pancake foundation placed on my face, which seemed very white. Fortunately for me, I am on the fair side, and my Ate was kind enough to alter some of my makeup. When college came, I started attending debuts and I refused to have anyone else touch my face except for my sister. Reality check, she couldn't be with me all the time so I had to learn how to do it myself. That was when my loving relationship with makeup began.

Me putting makeup on my Ate for a wedding (The roles have been reversed!)

Since then, I began experimenting on myself and my two sisters, and for some reason, their makeup was always noticed in parties. I loved drawing, coloring and painting, and makeup to me was like painting on a different canvas every time. Then, I put that on hold for a while and pursued my first love, teaching, and became a preschool teacher, which I still am now. The funny thing about that though was how moms of my students would come up to me and tell me that their daughters would go home and tell them what color my eye shadow or lipstick was for the day. It turns out that their children looked forward to coming to school the next day to see what I would wear next. Sometimes, they would even request for my next makeup look.

One day, I just decided to take the one-day basic makeup course in Center for Aesthetic Studies (CAS) which I thoroughly enjoyed. I absolutely loved makeup! Then, I took the basic makeup course in Make Up For Ever, just to see the difference. Then finally, I was taken under the wing of Vicky Tantoco who graduated from CAS, and I became her private student from July 2010 till January 2011. We had lessons every week which we referred to as playing because we were really having so much fun! According to Tita Vicky (that's what I call her), she noticed that my specialty is "prettifying" people, or making people look like prettier versions of themselves. For me, that was great because that was what I would want for myself. She was truly an inspiration, and coincidentally, a teacher and a makeup artist at the same time.

Like my students, my journey as a makeup artist began with play and exploration. Under the guidance of a skilled teacher, my love for learning could only flourish. With that, I'd like to dedicate my work to all teachers who have helped others achieve their dreams, little children, and of course the children within, who have big dreams and continue to strive to reach for the stars!