Beauty Boo-Boos You Shouldn’t commit

BOO!
By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

Published in MOD OCrober 2010

UNDERWEAR creases? Oily skin? Wrong makeup color? How many times have you had these fashion and beauty errors?

Look, these mistakes are avoidable. Especially if you know what they are and you know how to prevent them. Bianca Valerio, model, makeup artist, and host of Lifestyle Channel’s FASH, shares common fashion and beauty slip-ups and how to steer clear of them.

Beauty Blunders

Oily all over. “Especially if you commute, you don’t want to look oily going on a date or to close a deal. We want freshness, we want matte freshness,” says Bianca. “One thing you should always have in your bag is oil film.”

Wrong shade. “For press powder, get your own shade,” presses Bianca as to avoid being too pale or too dark. “Mix your foundation with moisturizer to make it a tinted moisturizer. If you bought the wrong shade, buy your own shade, make plenty shades, and share them with a friend.”

Color coding. “The most basic thing to remember if you are going for a dark eye, go for light lips. For dark lips, go for a dark eye. Always choose one focal point. Don’t do it altogether,” she says. “Don’t mix all the trends together—leave it to magazines and fashion shows. Go for one focal point and go with that, use your best features, and make them the center emphasis.”

Makeup Sleep . “No matter how sleepy you are, no matter how tired you are, always remove your makeup and wash your face before going to bed you won’t get breakouts, allergies, or clogged pores. That is the time when your skin rejuvenates and refreshes itself,” she says.

Fashion Faux Pas

Underwear Bomber. “People take underwear for granted but it really is the foundation of every outfit,” Bianca says. “There was one time, a girl bought granny panties, and the panties even had pockets where she can even place her cell phones.” Underwear keeps your clothes from being soiled, shapes your body and more important, should be concealed. Avoid display of your bra and panty lines.

Overage dressing. “You should dress age-appropriatel,” she says. “If you can work it and still have the body for skinny jeans, why not?” She explains that dressing age-appropriate means looking at circumstances. For example, if you are going to a PTA party, it is not exactly right to wear a plunging neckline and a backless blouse.

Overlooking dress codes. “Good taste is not just knowing about what nice is, it’s about what proper is. There is a moral conduct underlying all those clothes,” she says. “You also want people to like you kasi hindi ka agaw eksena, nasa lugar. Everything has its right place. That’s why there is always a dress code.”

FASH airs every Thursday at 10 p.m. on the Lifestyle Channel, Channel 52 on Sky Cable.

You Asked

Is the sun good or bad for my skin?

---- Rina, via Twitter

Socouer Oblepias, M.D. Answers

The sun is not all harmful because we need it for vitamin D, but sometimes overexposure can cause skin damage. Another concern would be aging skin. One of the cheapest preventive measures is a sun block, like the new Pond’s Flawless White Blemish Prevention UV Cream which prevents and lightens dark spots and has SPF 15. Putting powder on top of a sun block would actually put the sun block in place for a longer period of time than putting just sun block. It is ideal is to put the sun block first on top of the powder.

Socouer Oblepias, M.D. is a member of the Philippine Dermatological Society

Work That Model Figure!

Work That Model Figure!
By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA
MOD MAY 2010

IT is not magic that makes a model’s body hourglass-perfect. Neither is it having only half a cup of yogurt and gobbling a salad after.

These models eat whatever they want, be it a greasy cheeseburger or a medium-rare steak. Oh, they also make it a point to exercise, whether to burn calories or to battle post-pregnancy fat.

Mika Lagdameo-Martinez

Mika Lagdameo is one of the most familiar faces in the local fashion industry. She has endorsed a pizza chain, a telecommunications company, to name a few, and fired up the runway. Right after she gave birth to her daughter, she went to the gym every single day. She runs at marathons, and has finished two kilometers at a single run so far. She does not deprive herself of food, eating five to six meals a day. She snacks on just about anything and eats whenever she’s hungry. Mika confesses that she loves steak, but opts for more of the healthy fish and vegetable for her everyday food.
Kate Moss
The uber supermodel who never admitted to having any eating disorder is known for her thin, waif-ish body. After giving birth to a baby girl, however, she gained weight that had put her career momentarily on hold. Kate decided on a healthy diet of toast, fruits, vegetables, chicken, and fish. She got on a regular exercise regime that included running and meditation.

Tweetie de Leon–Gonzales

After more than a decade in the modeling industry, Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales still looks the way she did when she competed at the Ford Supermodel of the World. She believes she gets her great body from her mother’s genes, proper nutrition, and regular exercise. A mother to four kids, Tweetie has been working out since she was 15 years old. Nowadays, she plays squash three times a week and squeezes in core training and yoga to her busy schedule. She eats in moderation and never deprives herself of food, saying that this is the cause of bingeing. Vegetables are a constant in her diet and she also takes in multivitamins daily.
Gisele Bundchen
The Brazilian supermodel always manages to strut her stuff by keeping in shape. But, believe it or not, her diet secret is cheeseburgers. Yup, she loves to eat them. Not surprising at all, since she was discovered in a fast food chain. Gisele, who gave birth to a baby boy late last year, also manages to keep fit by doing yoga every day. She is also into horseback riding and volleyball, which she does at least three times a week.
Angel Aquino
The model, actress, and host of Us Girls, Angel Aquino is a believer of overall wellness. She is conscious about what she takes into her body. She has cut down on meat, like pork and beef. She makes it a point to have her meals cooked with little or no preservatives and processed ingredients. Angel also squeezes in Bikram Yoga classes whenever her schedule permits it.

Sarah Meier

Sarah Meier: ‘Modeling teaches valuable industry lessons’

BY ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

MOD MAY 2010

MODELS who want to extend their careers beyond the runways, billboards, television commercials, and print ads should take their cue from Sarah Meier. Although she still books modeling stints, Sarah has proven that there’s more to her than her looks. Back when being a music channel video jock was the to-die-for job, Sarah was one of the most popular VJs. And then she got married, and had a kid.

“In those less hectic times, out of the public eye, I was visualizing, conceptualizing, and actualizing my next ten-year plan,” she says.

Now back in the spotlight, she hosts The Dollhouse, a daily morning show from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on U92 FM with model Vicky Herrera. Although she’s proud of her work on radio, she is proudest when she’s being a wife and a mother. “Being a wife and mother are two of the most important, high-paying, rewarding, press-worthy job titles I will ever hold,” she says.

Radio Gaga. “People have been asking me why I decided to do radio after television, implying that it was some sort of a downgrade -- which makes me smile because shifting to radio was actually something I did to improve my hosting skills. As a VJ, you have distractions to help you get away with your job.You can smile, dress to impress, bounce around, and in the case of on-screen material, cut and ‘take two’ when you mess up o

r forget the information in your script. Radio is live. It's every day, and there’s always a responsibility to talk--in my case, for four hours--make sense, impart substance, and keep people entertained on a daily basis without sounding redundant or dated. I like to challenge. Radio deejay-ing is the boss of this next round that I'm going to enjoy conquering.”

Music’s on Her Radar. “As a daily morning rush hour show, The Dollhouse has a set list of songs that our programmer lines up for us. The order in which we play it on the show is up to us. Once in a while, we get away with highlighting some of our favorite tunes from past decades like on Throwback Thursdays, but generally we keep it current. We're such musically inclined jocks at U92 that you can tune in at any point and know that there is a real selector behind the booth and not just some robot.”

On-Air Mishaps. “Any given day, something can go wrong. I can forget to turn off somebody's microphone, or accidentally play a different song than I introduced. It's live, and that's the beauty of it. When I stop making mistakes, it means I'm ready to take on another challenge.”

Shifting Gears. “Shifting to the new studio and learning how to use the equipment came on the first day Vicky, my partner, and I moved to the morning shift, which means it was also the first time we had to wake up at 4 a.m. instead of come in for our 5 p.m. show, and the first time we had to be on air for four hours. Plus, we were the first two jocks on-air at the new station, so we felt like guinea pigs.”

Morning Person. “I think the thought of waking up at 4 a.m. was more daunting than actually doing it. I tried practising a week before, but we were still doing evening shift, and I just ended up exhausted. Now that I am a morning person, I feel like I maximize my day. I can be your alarm clock, instead of hitting the snooze button on mine.”

A Word on Modeling. “Modeling will teach you some of the most valuable lessons you may need to succeed in any industry--how to present yourself, the discipline of recognizing people's expectations and meeting them, being independent, personable, professional, flexible, and open minded provided you have your head screwed on straight. I've found that people who model for the wrong reasons like revenge, to prove something, or to nurse a self-esteem issue, end up with more problems than when they began. I think that's the long-term truth about modeling that nobody warns anybody about.”

The Only Job Title That Matters. “Being a wife and mother are two of the most important, high-paying, rewarding, press-worthy job titles I will ever hold, and investing quality time for family is essential in success, no matter what your job description is. But I am still both a businesswoman and a creative at heart, and so in those less hectic times, out of the public eye, I was visualizing, conceptualizing, and actualizing my next ten-year plan.”

A Healthy Daily Diet. “Eating is a soul-important quasi-luxury. The conversations and relationships formed over meals are wonderful; as is the love put into preparing them. As long as you have a healthy balance of proper eating and exercise, I've discovered that there is no more effective diet in the universe.”

Look Like a Model!

Look Like a Model!

By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

published MAY 2010, MOD Magazine

MODELS—don’t you just hate how, in the words of Derek Zoolander, really, really ridiculously good-looking they are? What many of us don’t understand is that it takes a lot of work to look flawless and picture-perfect. So whether you want to be a model or just look like a model, take a cue from the country’s top models and snag their beauty secrets:

“I get a lot of rest, sleep, and eat healthy food, and use the right makeup that fits my skin type.”

- Jasmine Maierhofer

“After a show, I make it a point to immediately remove my makeup so that my skin can breathe. I also make it a point to use facial cleanser, toner, and moisturizer every morning and every night before I go to sleep. I also use sunblock to protect my skin from UV rays. I make it a point to drink lots and lots of water. I’m extra careful with the area around my eyes as it is really delicate. I apply eye cream every morning and every night.”

- Gisselle Paqueo, Ford Supermodel of the World Philippines 2008

“Before I go to bed, I wash my face to remove makeup. I try to wash my face three times a day. I also get enough sleep as much as possible. When you don’t sleep, it usually shows in your eyes, pati energy mo nawawala. So try to get at least seven hours of sleep every day. Don’t forget to drink water as you will feel hydrated inside.”

- Emerald Villahermosa, Ford Supermodel of the World Philippines 2007

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So You Want To Be a Model?

YOU want to see yourself on the pages of MOD, on the billboards along busy EDSA, or grace a television commercial. But the question is, do you have what it takes to be a model?

According to Dennis Arca of Modelo Pilipinas what you need is the X-factor. “The X-factor,” he says, “consists of attitude, a beautiful face, body structure, and height.”

Attitude, according to Arca, is important. You have to have confidence to be able to project a beatiful image. And confidence stems from having a positive attitude about yourself, about other people, about life.