Vanidosa

I've always been a tomboy when growing up. I disdained make-up and fixing myself much to the chagrin of my PerDev high school teacher and my mom. I spent 11 formative years in an all-girls Catholic school and instead of being conscious about my looks, I would rather read books and study rather than figure out how to fix my hair or apply make-up (yes, I was and am still a nerd). Even when I had a serious boyfriend, I still never paid attention to my looks. I justified the thought that it was not my looks that attracted me to him in the first place. I was out of shape and though how much my mom harangued me, I never really gave a thought about it. My idea of fixing myself was combing my hair, putting on moisturizer and ensuring my clothes fit properly.

The first bank that I worked for did not pay too much attention on appearance or make-up. There's a dress code but we could wear jeans on Fridays and so on and so forth. Our job was considered backroom so we did not have to really spruce ourselves up as we're not exposed to customers. From time to time, I would try to put on make-up but it was such a bother for me that I gave up on it all together.

It was only after I gave birth and moved to a new company that I seriously paid attention to my looks. I learned to apply make-up skillfully. I had a colleague who really loved cosmetics so I would spend hours asking her for help. I shared this "hobby" with my high school bestfriend so I would visit her and we would practice. I also learned how to wear suits and pearls--outfits that would flatter my "unflattering" figure and would make me more "respectful-looking." When I moved to my current employer, I began wearing make-up everyday as I have to look the part of a "boss". My staff and colleagues have grown used to seeing me with make-up that they get alarmed whenever they see my pale face. At least I get to now utilize my boxes of cosmetics that my relatives from abroad are fond of giving me (I do ask for them). I'm not complaining though as I get to experiment.

As for my nails, I've always admired my sister-in-law's and mother-in-law's well kept nails. For my birthday, I treated myself to a manicure at my favourite nail salon--Isabella here at Alabang. Whenever I would visit them, I usually would just get a foot spa/pedocire but since it was a special day, I resolved to get a manicure together with my pedicure. The nail technician talked me into getting gel nails. I first heard of it from my mom when she came over for a visit last October. The first color that I got was red (again, for my birthday). It was supposed to last for a month but since it was red, I got rid of it after two weeks as I could see the new nail growing. This time around, I got a pale pink color (see above picture) so that the new growth will be unnoticeable and I can test their claim that it will last for a month without chipping.

I'm such a late bloomer. I'm now having my hair dyed at least twice a year to hide the white strands. I try to regularly get facials and ensure that I clean my face everyday. Someday, I hope to lose weight as well.

The best compliment I got so far was when one of my colleagues gave me a personalized coaster with a caricature of a nice lady with a handbag as her Christmas gift for me. She said that she chose the drawing because it reminded her of me (ma-postura daw). That really made my day.