Filed under: Beauty | Tags: cologne, concealer, fragrance, makeup brushes
Here’s some additional stuff to my growing beauty stash:
Body Fantasies in Raspberry Fantasy, Rimmel anti-fatigue concealer in Nude; Nivea hand and nail cream, Rimmel Sweet Jelly lipgloss, Prestige eyeliner in Brown, and Manicare makeup brush set. (I didn’t get the prices since the father took the receipts from the plastic bag. I think he misplaced it after.)
So far, I’m loving the Raspberry Fantasy body spray. It’s sweet-smelling without the nakakasuya factor. The anti-fatigue concealer doesn’t conceal blemishes and eye dark circles well. The hand and nail cream smells odd when used but it moisturizes enough. The lipgloss doesn’t stay on my lips long because I tend to lick it off! It’s sweet and tastes like bubble gum! The brown eyeliner from prestige smudges easily making me look like a raccoon a few minutes into work. The only thing I’ve used in the Manicare set is the lipstick brush. Gotta use the others soon.
These are bought from Geant Hypermarket, one of the 12 branches this huge hypermarket has in Saudi Arabia. It’s very much like SM but with the grocery, apparel, and appliances integrated under one roof with no clear divisions whatsoever. It’s a haven for shoppers like me who is delighted in every shopping experience there is.
I had fun sniffing all the perfume testers at the fragrance section. I went crazy seeing the Maybelline, Rimmel, Nivea, and Prestige kiosks although I wished there are more choices in cosmetics. I was contemplating in buying a few pieces of tops at the clothing section but the patterns and colors don’t suit my taste that much. The parents bought a set of Tefal cookware for pasalubong to one of my aunts in Pinas while the brother grabbed some shirts on the sale rack. (He’s such a cheapskate!)
We’ll be back at Geant one of these days to check on tents. I can’t divulge what the tent is for right now. Teehee.
Filed under: Fashion, Look of the Day, Skirts, Wear of the Day | Tags: skirt
I never thought I’ll wear long skirts again. In Pinas, they’re already laos (out of fashion) and people wearing long skirts are associated with people who does “Alive, alive, alive forever more…” (with arms swaying up in the air). (Hey, I’m not anti these groups. Just citing perceptions.) Here in Saudi, long skirts are the norm. And women are comfortable wearing them anytime, anywhere.
I told myself that since I’m really trying hard to reinvent myself, I’ll go on experimenting with clothes. So when I wore my first long skirt, I thought “why not?” It looks okay on me. Haha. And like what I said, I look “feminine” rather than “girly” in my long skirt. So yeah, I bought another skirt at the Kuwaiti souk along King Fahad road.
And here’s how I wore it at work:
White tank top from Fishbone at the New Yorker, SR19 (P237.50); Black pullover from Calliope, SR60 (P750.00), long brown skirt from the Kuwaiti souk, SR30 (P375.00); black belt with embroidered details from Geant, SR20 (P250.00); black ballet flats from New Yorker, SR19 (P237.50).
Another look (but my phone camera is still not getting the colors of my outfit right. My skirt’s brown with vertical stripes of a deeper brown shade):
I’ve gone very very neutral again on this one. That’s black, brown, and white. Very safe colors here in the Kingdom. You see, I can’t just wear any bold color I like! It might distract the conservatives, teehee. (Segway: One time, I saw this fab red long skirt at Geant. I really really want to buy it but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to wear it because of its erm, “glaring” color. I sulkily moved on.)
The good thing about this color combination though is the fact that it actually made me slimmer and taller. It created a continuous long silhouette for me thus I look thinner. Don’t be fooled by the photo. I just managed to gain the 2 kilos I lost last month. Argh.
Filed under: Bags, Flip Flops | Tags: caps, flipflops, hats, summer bags
Riyadh experiences summer all-year round. Well, scientifically there’s winter here but it being a desert, the first thing that comes into the mind is “sun and sand and heat and nothing else.” Thus the summer. Yep, the only thing that’s missing is the sea. Where the heck is the beach?!
Riyadh is almost at the center of Saudi Arabia so there’s no beach here but in Al-Khobar and Jeddah, there’s a seashore where men can swim and women can only watch in envy. But you know, I don’t think I’d want to take a swim in there anyway. Not with my full garb on!
But, because this is such an ironical city (and country), there are beach items here which are usable when you get out of the city (and country). I found the perfect huge beach bags at F&F last week. The branch in Al-Akaria Mall has lots of wonderful summer-y bags, which I didn’t find in the Danube branch:
Summer, anyone?
The plastic bags ven have matching hats, pouches, and wallets. Very cute. Oh, and you can find flip flops too! Of course, they’re on sale! (I seldom enter stores that don’t have “SALE” signs on them.)
I’ll probably buy one for use in the tropical country in the future. Or maybe, I’ll take one with me in our trip to Al-Khobar this Eid al-Fitr holiday (hopefully). Yey!
I’m not a rubber shoes/sneakers person so I only own two pairs of rubber shoes. One I bought in Adidas Manila for my “once in a blue moon” forays to the badminton court with my college friends and one I bought here in Citymax Riyadh (I’m not sure which branch because I just arrived then) for my more than “once in a blue moon” forced forays to the gym.
One Thursday night, my brother bought his first Chuck Taylor in Batha, the gimik hang-out place of Pinoys here in Riyadh which looks like downtown Cebu to me. Anyway, his was a black and hot pink magenta Chucks which retails for SR100 (P1,250.00). I am amazed. That cheap for original and brand new sneakers? I’m sold! Teehee.
So the inevitable thing happened: me owning my first ever pair of Chucks:
CT Flowers Hi-Top, SR150 (P1,875.00).
How much is this one in Pinas? Is this a total bargain? My brother is thinking of buying one pair every payday. That would be his collection here. Cool idea! With all these designs, I’m sure he’ll have a hard time choosing.
An array for Converse Chuck Taylors.
Now what design would I buy next? Hmn…
I haven’t seen an AVON lady here but I’ve seen an Oriflame guy. Oriflame is the “Avon” of Saudi Arabia. It is a cosmetics company from Sweden which also uses the direct selling method. There’s a catalog being passed around where you’ll see the products and order what you like from the person in charge of the catalog. In our case, it’s one of our housekeeping guy at the hospital. It’s the “business” of his wife and he’s helping out since he gets to mingle with more ladies at work.
Here’s a few pages from the Oriflame catalog:
A handsome man on its cover! Haha!
Sensual women for perfumes.
Candy-colored nail polish and lippies.
Kissable lips.
I haven’t had the chance to order something from the catalog but my officemate said she’s satisfied with one of their bronzers. Though prices seem a little bit higher on this season’s new catalog, they’re still affordable since Oriflame is an international brand.
I might try their bronzer or nail polish one of these days.
