BDJ Box Beauty Bootcamp Glam Indulgence Beauty Fair

My sister made me accompany her to the BDJ Box Beauty Bootcamp Glam Indulgence Beauty Fair last Sunday.  Wait a second while I catch my breath from saying that.

I actually didn't know much about this prior to going to said event.  My sister basically said we're going and I said okay.  Like other BDJ events, I just expected that there would be booths, products, and games to enjoy.  There was also a workshop but I don't remember how much the fee was because we didn't register for it.

First Impression. Held at the Palm Grove in Rockwell, it's pretty obvious that I'm not their target market.  Haha!  After commuting all the way to Rockwell, we found about a couple of dozen people already there.  You know something's good to be had when people are already there well before the scheduled start of the event.

In the Event.  And I was right.  The first thing I noticed was a growing line outside the Cover Girl booth.  I had to pass this up because this entailed taking a photo and posting it online.  Cover Girl products were also sold at discounted prices.



We headed next to the Flawless booth.  They had different games set up involving plastic cups which had now made me aware how awfully slow my hands are.  I knew we should have learned the Cup Song!  I failed to win the game I played so I didn't win a prize.

We waited at a long line towards the Body Shop booth.  Signing up allowed attendees to pick a piece of paper from a container that showed what sample you can get.  Among the samples available were scents like Smoky Rose and Black Musk. I got a White Musk sample while my sister got a Tea Tree BB Cream sample.  People also signed up to get a rewards card.

The Kracie booth had a free eyebrow makeover and was selling Pure Savon, Cure, Baby Foot mask and the 1-Day Tattoo Eyeliner, all at discounted prices.  I knew I've heard about the 1-Day Tattoo Eyeliner somewhere but I couldn't exactly remember what it was about specifically.  It's tempting but it's pricier than other brands I know plus I don't know much about using eyeliners so it'll only be wasted on me.  Maybe someday when I've learned how to use make-up I'll give this a try.

The Celeteque booth offered free skincare analysis and a free makeover.  They had no products on sale but had testers of their various products on the table.  You can see on the screen what your skin looks like but honestly I couldn't tell what exactly I was looking at.  Was that a crater?  Hahaha!  Apparently, I had large pores.  I really should work on my discipline and actually follow a skincare regimen.

The Bioderma booth was smack in the middle of the room.  When my sister approached, the lady manning the booth entertained her.  When I approached and stood next to my sister, I heard the woman discussing my sister's skin type, their products and proceeded to give her samples.  My sister asked on my behalf what she'd suggest for my skin so the lady starts to recommend two products then a foreigner stands behind us. The booth lady immediately focuses on her, starts talking to her, hands us the samples without looking at us, and basically we didn't exist anymore. Hahaha!  I guess we're not her target market!

Among the booths I didn't go to were Toni & Guy, which offered free hairstyling, Max Factor, and Browhaus.  I had no idea what Browhaus were offering but my sister visited their booth and the lady there said that a customer had previously told them that they gave the least painful Brazilian.  Um, good to know?  I contemplated buying hair color from Revia and then have my hair colored on the spot, but I didn't feel like walking around with wet hair while waiting for the color to set.

Canon had a booth outside the room where people could have their photos taken, and printed I think.  I thought that was great but I didn't have the guts to have my photo taken.  Seriously, this event had bloggers and photographers everywhere!  Everyone was clicking on everything.  We had to the Matrix ourselves out of getting included in people's photos.  A guy who was photographing the booths and attendees asked if he could take my photo and I was like, 'No, photograph her', pointing to the girl in front to me.  Then we stepped out of the line so he could take a photo.  When we got back in line, I said an apology in my mind to the girl in front of me for volunteering her as tribute.  Sorry, girl.

I didn't actually plan on buying anything before coming here.  My only purchase here are these matte lipsticks from Cosmetix Unlimited.  The booth name is Details so I had no idea which name is the actual brand name.  I don't regularly wear make-up, I don't know how to put on make-up that consistently looks like I'm an actual human being and not a creature from the underworld, but I do try make-up from time to time.  When I finally bought myself shiny, glossy lipstick, imagine my frustration when I realized that matte lipsticks are the in thing now.  So at a discounted price of Php180 each, this was too tempting to pass up.  I think they also had a free makeover at their booth, but I had lipstick; I didn't care.

How was it.  All in all, I would say that the trip was worth while.  There were enough activities to do even if you didn't participate in the workshop, and a lot of stuff to buy if you had the money to blow.  I don't know how other people might fare with the time spent lining up for some of the activities but I didn't mind; hell, I spent hours lining up at the CalligrArt event.   And did I mention the samples?  I have a sachet sample from Cure, product samples from Bioderma and a scent sample from The Body Shop.  And did I mention that the Olay Regenerist products we got are full-size?  Swoon.

Why does the Internet look the same?

I decided to buy a theme for my blog to save myself from the hundreds of hours I would have needed to spend to make my simple template responsive.  I tried to change it myself and already spent a few hours finding a tutorial, changing the code, and I still hit a wall.  I could not figure out what I did wrong.

So there.  Luckily, I found a shop where the themes cost less than $30.  

Probably the hardest part about buying a theme is picking out the theme.  Most of the themes are similar to each other and are different in the small details, like the alignment of elements or the style of the icons.   Half the time, I'd be looking at one theme thinking, "Ooh, I like that", then look at another theme and think, "But I also like that!"  Why can't these elements exist on the same theme?

Now I got this beautiful theme and have it up and running and then I realize... It looks awful with my content. Hahaha!  I picked a pretty theme and it looks nowhere near the theme creator's mock-up. I never really cared about my photos before, nor minded not having photos, because my previous template didn't really necessitate the need for it.  Looking at my blog now, I'm seriously considering discarding my past posts to sort of at least fix the weird looking post list on my sidebar.  I need prettier photos.

Somebody, help me get a sense of style.

I've been looking at what I could do to improve my photos.  What I'm constantly seeing is this aesthetic that's somewhat minimal, a little detached, and definitely styled.  I mean, no hate, I love the look; but how, in the real world, could a smartphone, a tablet, a pencil, binder clips and plastic tulips coexist?

And everywhere online is the same kind of style.  I've been wasting my life on the internet, so where was I when the world sent out the memo that photos should be brighter than the sun, colors muted, with more space than the Milky Way?

Digging through Pinterest, I found another blog with a post on "How to Establish Your Instagram Aesthetic", that states that there is a study suggesting that light, bright, minimal photos are dominating the social media game.

Like I said, I think it's pretty.  I'm absolutely envious that other people can produce these kind of photos.  But I'm doubtful if it could work for me.

Can You Hear My Voice?

This was the post title on a template I was looking at the other day.  This should be my blogging battle cry now.  Except, I have nothing to say.

I have no idea where to begin. I look around and people are talking about niches and types. Like, what type of blogger are you?  Fashion, beauty, photography, travel, lifestyle, what kind of blogger are you?  And I'm not really any of these things.  I don't fit into a certain niche.  I don't travel, I suck at taking photos, and I have no make-up skills.  My life is about as interesting as a piece of rock.

There's a kind of narcissistic quality to internet sharing that I'm not comfortable with.  How do people even begin to think that somebody is going to want to look at what they upload, much less like or comment on it?  When I write something it's like throwing something on the floor.  Eventually, I'll find them and discard them properly.  I also used to write diary entries, then burn them, so this is kinda a thing.

I'm amazed at how naturally it comes for other people.  How could other people NOT think that getting noticed by others is scary and awkward?  But that thing that allows them to post the most cringe-worthy videos without any afterthought or foresight is also what allows them speak their minds on issues, even if it's all mud-slinging and trash-talking.

I miss my old self.  The one that didn't mind to put her opinion out there.  But my experiences taught me that speaking my mind can be met by discomfort, anger, and disbelief, and I just hurt myself.  Still, I regret losing her.

So what kind of blogger will I be?  I've seen people enjoying their hobbies. I've read about people aiming to tell a story, their story.  I've heard of people crying against being silenced.  Me?  I'll be the blogger who's learning to speak.

Breaking from Silence

Alright, I managed to somehow tweak my layout based on another template I found (which isn't available anymore). It looks fairly decent, and I like it.  Then I learned that layouts are supposed to be responsive, which this isn't.  Dammit.

What the hell am I doing?  I have no idea how many times I've asked myself that.  It's clear that self-expression doesn't come as easy to me now like it used to.  I don't write.  I occasionally post a Facebook update to my two dozen 'friends' (lolololol) and I have social media accounts I barely use. So why am I even here?

While I took a step back to figure out what I could do with my template, the election happened.  I have social media accounts but I've mostly avoided actually using them with the exception of Pinterest.  I keep accounts to see what my friends are doing, and to see what other people are posting.  I barely post anything.  I tried posting regularly on Instagram, but a problem with the app on my phone led me to stop posting and I didn't particularly miss it.  So when the election happened, I kept my point of view away from the internet.  I didn't post before, and I didn't exactly plan to change that.  I just waited for other people to say something.  And I waited.

But there was silence.  In the back of my head, I thought, the most vocal opinions are thought of to be true, especially for those who haven't formed their own opinions yet or haven't seen a different point of view.  If we want a different opinion to be presented out there, we have to speak up. I'm going to have to add my voice into the din.  And I tried.  I probably have more posts in that week than I had in 5 years.

In the aftermath of these, I managed to speak to a few of my friends and while we have the same opinions to some degree, all of those I have spoken to chose to be silent through the whole thing.  I have a certain admiration for the bravado of the vocal.  While my friends, and others with a similar point of view were worried about stepping on toes, the other vocal people I've seen never seemed to mind or care.   Meanwhile, when I wrote what I wrote it felt abrasive to the core.  I was actively avoiding engaging people for years, and suddenly I'm posting opinions on politics.  That's like an invitation for conflict.  Before posting, I did think that maybe my Facebook friends who were posting an opposing view may feel offended, or attacked.  And I did see this kind of reaction elsewhere on the web.  But really, if a lot of people today feel they have every right to be vocal, even brash, then I, no, we, have the right to voice our opinions as well.

But now that the election is over and done I feel like going back to my corner of the world.  Politics isn't my thing, and I'd like to stay away from it for time being.  But I know I still have to keep trying to express myself.  I need more practice.