My First Home Service Haircut and Color

You know it's time for a haircut when your hair...

Starts reminding you of...

To be honest, I did love the Cousin Itt-like length of my tresses, but there were two problems: 1) It had become dual-tone because I hadn't had it retouched in months--it was so bad that, when I'd have my hair up in a ponytail, the hair against my head would be black and the hair on the tail would be light brown; and 2) it was just getting too heavy for my head! I would find myself getting dizzy late in the afternoon after having had to support Rapunzel's crowning glory for hours.

As luck would have it, Revlon sent over their latest hair color. The bad news was I had never colored my hair by myself before. So I thought this was the perfect time to give Michael Morano a call.

Michael is perhaps the only home service hairstylist that I know of. He normally does haircuts and has his sister do the coloring, but since I had my own color, he came over by himself.

With Michael. That black cape is not a good look on me.

Michael is a Shuji Kida-trained hairstylist. He's got LOADS of customers (including some high-profile ones), and entire families ask him to come over regularly to cut all their hair. I think this customer loyalty is a clear indication of just how good he is!

It was a treat having my hair done at home. I felt so special, (and kind of sosyal, haha!) being the only customer! And, since I provided my own color, the whole thing cost me--wait for it--just P1,000 (about $24)! That's one grand for cut, color, and blowdry! (Expect to pay more if the colorist brings her own hair color.)

And now, a before and after. Try not to let my just-woke-up, zero-makeup before pic frighten you too much...

Un-Tangled: I do miss the dyosa-like length, but it feels so much lighter now! And I have bangs again!

Want to get your hair cut and colored at home too? Contact Michael at 0939-8887860.

What Price Beauty?

How much do you spend on beauty treatments/maintenance per year?

Image from here

I always thought of myself as someone with very basic beauty needs--the occasional haircut, monthly manis and pedis. But in the past couple of years my list has grown to accommodate moisturizers and other facial creams (although I sometimes get these things for free), regular waxing treatments, hair color maintenance, and now, eyelash extensions. This last one, I could probably do without--it's not something I have to get regularly. I still don't have facials on my list (I've never had one), and thankfully I get loads of free makeup from work so I very rarely go makeup shopping. But I gotta say, I'm slightly alarmed.

The thing is, I've come to see all these things as my New Basics for looking polished (or, at the very least, presentable!). When I hit 30, I told myself that I would make an effort to always (or almost always) look put together. This meant no more flipflops at the office (even if they're allowed) or cutesie T-shirts (except when I'm running to the grocery store, going to the beach, or hanging out with my family). The biggest exception, perhaps, is when I'm on the field and all vanity goes out the window.

More than once, I've been told that I look like a boy on the field. So much for polish.

When I was lamenting all the kachings needed for ka-kikayan, Hamil tried to make me feel better by saying, "But you look good." Thank you, dear husband, for saying so. And for not rolling your eyes at all these seemingly frivolous expenses!

Anyhoo, this got me really curious about other girls' beauty budgets. What products and treatments do you splurge on to stay pretty? What do you consider your own beauty basics, stuff that you really spend your hard-earned money on?

Lash-ing out: My First Lash Extensions!

The first time I ever wore false eyelashes was one summer before my freshman or sophomore year of high school. I was in a Repertory play, and it was my first experience wearing heavy stage makeup. Back then, false lashes didn't come in the more natural-looking versions we have now, so I thought that I looked an awful lot like a drag queen (and not in a good way). They also felt mighty heavy, itchy, and downright uncomfortable. This was when I ranked the act of peeling off false eyelashes as one of the best feelings in the world (right up there with taking off one's bra after a long day. Har).

Luuuurve this movie! John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and the late Patrick Swayze as drag queens? What's not to love? Photo from here.

The other false-lash experience that stands out in my memory is my wedding day. My fabulous makeup artist, Omar, wanted to pump up the volume of my long but somewhat anemic lashes by adding falsies. In this day and age, we have individual falsies that don't give ye olde drag-queen effect of yore. They looked quite lovely, giving my eye makeup a bit of drama, without going over the top. The problem was, Omar didn't have his preferred eyelash glue that day, so he settled for whatever was on hand. By communion during the church ceremony, my falsies were falling off one by one onto my veil!

Hamil kept pocketing my Amazing Falling Eyelashes. Here he is, fiddling with a fallen falsie, and there I am, finding the whole thing hilarious.

Makeup mishap aside, I did like the effect of those falsies. I thought about them often, especially when I would be frustrated with my sometimes-uncurl-able lashes. I've tried the whole heat-up-the-curler-with-a-hairdryer trick to no avail. I'm also very lazy when it comes to removing eye makeup, and think removing mascara is a huge chore. Sometimes I think I've gotten it all off, only to find goth-like black streaks around my eyes after I wash my face. Ugh.

It took me weeks to decide to finally get lash extensions. My main concern was that they would be so itchy that I wouldn't be able to stand having them on for more than a day. My other concern was Hamil's reaction. Whenever I brought it up, he would kind of get this bemused what's-my-krungkrung-wife-up-to-now look, but he didn't really discourage me from it. (He's awesome that way.) But after one frustrated lash-curling attempt too many, I finally decided to go for it.

My lash extension salon of choice: i-Lash Extensions Salon.

I went to the SM Hypermart branch, pictured above. This photo from the i-Lash website.

Having never done this before, I had no idea what to expect. I walked in to find a bunch of comfy-looking loungers and stools where customers could put their feet up.

Also from the i-Lash website

I was asked to choose the kind of lashes I wanted:

• Fine (100 pieces of extensions, any length), P550
• Natural (160 to 180 pieces, any length), P800
• Mascara Effect (all existing lashes will have extensions in two layers), P1,000 to P1,250
• Full Thick (all existing will have extensions in three to four layers), P1,500
• Colored lashes (brown, blue, violet), P2,000

Since I was worried about looking like RuPaul for about four weeks, I decided to go for the Fine extensions. The lash girl, Remy, then set to work.

I lay down on the lounger, and they were just as comfortable as they looked! So comfy, in fact, that I found myself drifting in and out of sleep throughout the hour-long procedure. Yep, one hour--they painstakingly apply each individual lash onto the lash line, and make sure that they are perfectly, evenly spaced. "Will my own lashes fall out after?" you ask, or "Does it hurt?" I could address every single question you have, but i-Lash's website has a nifty little FAQ section that can answer your queries more credibly.

The verdict? Tisha Likes this! They aren't itchy or heavy at all! I didn't think they would feel like...nothing! I only feel them when I squeeze (really squeeeeze) my eyes shut, or accidentally tug at my lids when I wash my face and all. But other than that, it's as if they're Bob Dylan. (You know, They're Not There.)

(Left) Extensions Extreme Closeup; (right) the effect: They look pretty darn real! Someone tentatively said, "Nice...mascara?" (I was hesitant to post this not-so-flattering pic--lack of sleep is partly to blame--but review purposes trump vanity!)

Big plus! They look incredibly natural--like my own lashes on a good lash day! Hamil didn't even notice them, until I pointed them out. He was relieved to find that they weren't the bushy, unnatural versions that he had seen before. Later on, looking at my eyes up close, he said that I kind of looked like a different person. It's such a subtle change--people will probably notice that something's different about you, but they won't be able to pinpoint what it is. In that instance, just bat your eyelashes at them and give them a coy little smile.


i-Lash Extensions Salon is located at SM Supercenter Pasig (beside Tiendesitas), tel. (02) 470-4119. For more information and for a list of their other branches, visit their website at http://ilashsalon.multiply.com.