Free Tickets to the Summer Heat Wave Bazaar at WTC!

I am giving away 15 tickets to the hottest bazaar of the summer happening at the World Trade Center on April 13-15, 2012!

Of course, the Hyphen group will be there! Please show your love by joining this contest. Aside from winning tickets, you also get to choose a pair of earrings from Hyphen Curiosities. Winners must be able to pickup their prizes at our Alphaland booth on the 3rd floor, beside Tiggy’s store, in front of the food court. You can choose your earrings there. 

Mechanics:

1. Like Hyphen on Facebook – www.facebook.com/thehyphenstore

2. Be a follower of this blog

3. Leave a comment with your email address.

4. Must be able to claim their prizes on or before Friday, March 30, 2012 at our Alphaland booth.

5. First 7 commenters (with 1 & 2 accomplished) instantly win while the remaining 8 will be chosen via Random. org so join now!

6. This is open to Philippine readers only. Contest is from March 26-29. Winners of the raffle will be announced on the even of March 29. You have until 9 pm of March 29 to join.

Short but Sweet

I truly, truly wanted to blog today but as it turned out, I drowned in paperwork. Well, still drowning, that is. It’s tax season for Hyphen so I must focus my energy on doing that. Anyway, in between meetings, events, talking to suppliers and manning our booths at Victoria de Manila and Alphaland Mall, I was able to squeeze in some shopping.  So this is going to be a haul post.

My Avon loot, thanks to Ms. J of Avon at Victoria de Manila. I need a container for my Fossil sunglasses so I got this. Yes, Fossil sunglasses are expensive but cheap when it comes to containers. They only gave us flimsy cloth bags to keep our sunnies in. Unfortunately, my sunglasses still don’t fit in this box but it will suffice. I only keep them in the car anyway.

I was looking for a lipstick shade similar to my Avon Berry Mauvy so I got this. Will post a different review on this. It’s not similar at all but I love it! The other lippy is for mom. The necklace is for me.

Here’s another haul from Etude House. Will post a separate review on these too.

And here’s what made my day today:



Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash and Book of Shadows IV from my benefactor in the US. Thank you!




I’m super busy but I promise to find time to blog about these things and some other backlog posts.

On another note, thank you to all the bloggers who visited Hyphen at the Victoria de Manila bazaar on Taft Ave. We will be there until March 31 so please visit us! Look for the Hyphen Luxe booth in front of Avon.  We’re also at Alphaland Mall, Makati until March 31 so please visit us there too! We’re the yellow booth beside Tiggy’s store. We don’t offer the same stuff in our booths so better visit us in both places!

Thank you for all your support! Hyphen is getting bigger because of you. We won’t be here without you guys! Please continue to share the love!

Love & Beauty Palette

I got this palette as part of a gift from my best friend Ahne.

This is how it looks brand new

I’ve been using this palette since my birthday. I took this out of town and literally road tested it. I was really surprised with this palette. I was expecting it to be so-so because it’s from Forever 21 but it turned out really good.

The colors last the whole day with a good primer. I’ve never used this without a primer, by the way. I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance. I’ve used all the colors and it doesn’t matter if it’s light or dark. They both last and the pigmentation is the same. The light colors are shimmer while the dark ones are matte. 

I only have a problem with the pink shadow on the upper right. It became like this:

See the center? The texture is different. I don’t know what happened. Maybe my brush still had some brush cleaner in it when I swiped that color. Anyway, the pigments are bigger now and I have to flatten them out to apply them properly. In spite of this, the pigments don’t hurt my eyes unlike the UD shadows.

There is considerable fall out so make sure that you tap the brush to get rid of the excess shadow.  To sum it up, I’ll give this palette a 6/10. I’ll review the other cosmetics included in this kit soon.

The Smokey Eye That Didn’t Make It

This was supposed to be one of two looks that I would use on a client but she cancelled the last minute. I was up the whole night trying out different looks. Anyway, that kind of stuff happens. I took photos because I showed them to my friend Kate and asked for her opinion. This wasn’t her choice, by the way. I don’t have a clear photo of that.



This was at 11 pm so ignore everything except for the eyes. Plus, my skin was too dry and flakey. These are smokey eyes with a twist.



I left the inner part of my lids in a neutral shade. I think this look can get you from day to night.

I used my Stila. UDNY and MAC palettes to do this look.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters

I was super, super excited when these came out. I was very happy with my Colorburst Lip Gloss plus I read nice reviews about these lip butters. I wanted to buy all the colors! Well, good thing I didn’t.

I got Sweet Tart, Cupcake and Gumdrop. I bought Gumdrop to replace my favorite Avon Berry Mauvy which is running out.

First things first, nice packaging. The design works for me and the cap stays on. It’s actually a bit hard to remove the cap at times, especially with one hand.

No weird smell and no allergies. They glide on like butter but I feel that they dry out my lips after a couple of hours. So I still use a lip balm with these.

Here are swatches:


















As you can see, they don’t look very nice. They don’t leave a clean, smooth finish when they should because, well, they’re lip butters. They look terrible especially if you have dry, chapped lips. Avoid these when you have dry lips. Or choose the darker shades. I swiped these after giving my lips a thorough scrub and they still look like that. Oh, and no lip balm base.

Obviously my favorite is Sweet Tart and no, Gumdrop cannot be a substitute for my Berry Mauvy.

They’re 500+ pesos a tube and no, I will not buy more shades again.

My Bobbi Brown Palette

I got a Bobbi Brown empty palette early last year. If you’re familiar with the brand, you’d know that a single pan of eye shadow or blush is very expensive. It took me a year to finally fill up my palette.

I started with the 2 browns, Sable and Mahogany. I use these for my brows. I sometimes use these on my clients, depending on their hair color, brow shape and thickness/thinness of the brows. I use my Bobbi Brown Eye Brow Brush to apply this. By the way, if you can find/afford it, and if you use powder to fill in your brows, buy this brush. It’s really great for eyebrow shaping.

Then, my mentor said that I should get Bone to use as a highlighter. So I got these 3 last year.

Early this year, my benefactor told me to fill up my empty palette. I asked Owell (of Bobbi Brown Rustan’s Makati) what I should get for a bridal look. He suggested I get Toast that goes well with Sable. And of course, I have to get my mentor’s favorite blush (to use on me) Pale Pink and Rose Gold, a shimmer wash eye shadow, which is also great for bridal looks.

Here are swatches of Pale Pink and Rose Gold:

Here’s a photo of my full palette to leave you with:

So Fab! Love

I’m a loyal customer. If a brand works for me, then I stick to it until I find something better or the brand “abandons” me. = )

Such is the case of So Fab shoes. I’ve ben slowly building up my collection and I’d like to share them with you.



My favorite pair nowadays is the orange one as they’re super, super comfy.

I’m not a huge fan of closed shoes because it’s very hard for me to find a pair that fits me perfectly so you can see that almost all of them are open shoes.

The black flats were a bit of a pain when I first wore them but after breaking in, they’re okay as long as I don’t wear them for several hours straight. I did once wear them on a shopping trip and my feet hurt for a couple of days so I only wore flats. =P

I haven’t worn the neutral pair though. It’s very high. I think it’s around 4 inches (that’s very high for me).

I wear other brands but I guess So Fab dominates my collection as I find their shoes chic and comfortable. Most of these shoes are from MB. He knows I like practical gifts. I visited So Fab the other day and they still didn’t have new shoes. I’ll post another photo when I’ve accumulated more. What are your favorite brands of shoes?

The Chanel Nail Polish Disaster

I got this nail polish last year. When I went abroad, I immediately looked for this at different Chanel boutiques. Unfortunately, the collection hasn’t arrived there yet. When I got home, I checked out Rustan’s and to my surprise, the bottle was there! And it was the last one so I immediately got it.

Chanel Mimosa

Well, my joy lasted for only a while because when I used it, it was a big disappointment. The product clumps up on my nails even after several minutes of the first coat. The second coat is always a struggle. And you can’t just apply one coat because the color is so thin. (It’s very pretty though with some subtle sparklies). On some nails it’s okay but there’s always one that gets ruined. Here. I opted to apply the nail polish on just one nail but it still got ruined so I covered it up with a nail sticker.

All ruined… = (

I don’t know if all Chanel nail polish are like this but I don’t think I’ll be trying another one soon. It is indeed a very pretty color but it’s not worth the price and all the hassle. I’m sticking to my OPI and China Glaze, thank you very much.

The Full Story–Mango Picks

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and we spent the day in the mall. After my fill of Choco Cream Chip and before going home, I decided to drop by Mango Greenbelt. I wanted to buy so many things but here are some of the items that I managed to take photos of:



I have been on the lookout for the perfect white shirt since my perfect white shirt is showing signs of retirement. This white breezy top is perfect for all those hot summer days. Although I have to say, the price isn’t too perfect for me.

Orange is the “it” color for summer and if you’re scared to don an orange outfit, try to inject it little by little into your wardrobe starting with these earrings.

This yellow top actually reminds me of a yellow tank top that we had at Hyphen Luxe so naturally, I had to take a photo of it and share it with you. This top is perfect with shorts or skirts for weekends at the mall. Layer with a cardi and you’re all set for Casual Fridays at work.

If you’re a mall rat  (like I am) or love going to the movies, a cardigan is your best friend. The theaters can be very chilly at times so better be prepared. Unless of course, you have someone beside you to keep you warm. = )

And that’s the Full Story on my picks, The Mango Edition.

If you’re too lazy to read, keep up with our latest picks at The Picky Sisters.

The Picky Sisters

We have a new blog! My dear friends, Ahne , Kate and I are collaborating on a new project called the Picky Sisters. Its basically a blog that we will fill with our latest picks. These are things that we like/love that we would like to share with you.

We hope you’ll like and support our new blogs as much as you do each of our personal blogs. Don’t worry, our personal blogs will still be up and running. The Picky Sisters will just be an extension of those.

Visit our new blog and don’t forget to follow us!

My Goody Favorites

I have been using Goody hair products since I was a kid. My grandmother in the US used to send me tons of Goody clips, barrettes and scrunchies. That’s when Goody was not yet widely available here. Eventually, Goody found its way to Filipino hearts and now we can enjoy a lot of Goody’s best sellers. Here are my current favorites:

My most favorite ones are the spin pins (not in the photo). They are the products that I use often because I just had my hair cut and the other hair accessories are for longer hair.  I will have my chance to use the others soon.By the way, if you have super thick hair, I wouldn’t recommend the Pony Pouf. My hair became thinner due to steroids and the clip still won’t hold my hair. I was able to use it once but on my second attempt, I just couldn’t close the darn clip. I asked MB for help and he, too, failed.

Here’s what I bought the other day:

I’ve been buying another cheaper brand of wide-toothed comb and in a year, I’ve managed to break 5. I saw this comb and asked the SA if this was durable. She said yes because the material used is Rubbermaid (if I remember correctly). This is pricey at 200+ pesos but if it will last a year or more (like most of my Goody hair tools do) then it’s definitely worth it.  The pack of tiny clamps is also 200+ pesos.

Another all-time favorite are the black hair ties. I buy a bunch and they last me a year. I love that they’re ouchless, snagless and the garter doesn’t wear out fast.

If you’re wondering if this is a sponsored post, well, my answer is no. I just really love Goody.

Swatches of Maybelline Color Tattoo

First off, Congratulations to Essa A. for winning Part 2 of Hyphen and Bits + Treats Double Thanksgiving Giveaway! We already sent you an email.

Now, so sorry for the late photos. I was out of town for my birthday then had some health issues. So without further ado, here are the swatches:

These are available for Pre-Order. Just send us an email at thehyphenstore@gmail.com if you’re interested. Followers of this blog get a special discount.