Pinkrubbershoes: OPI Planks A Lot

I bought OPI Planks A Lot more than a year ago. Didn't swatch it, didn't do anything with it. I usually pick it up and stare at the bottle when I'm choosing something to paint my nails. It is always the bottle that I pick up but end up putting back at the drawer coz I always find something better to wear. Or so I thought. 

A few days ago, I'm listing a few things that I need to do to maximize my use of all my make up and nail polish. I listed "try something you're not comfortable with". So when it's finally time to repaint my nails, I just grabbed this. And regrets came rushing!

OPI Planks A Lot is the most beautiful lilac nail polish that I ever saw. I fell in love with it the minute I finished applying it on my pinkie. 

 It is such a rich lilac creme nail polish. I've used OPI Do You Lilac It? a couple of times and i loved it too- but nothing compares to this. This is something that I can wear for months over and over and I swear I'll never get tired of, or loath, or bored, or lose interest with. That's how much I love it.

(photo with camera flash)

And I can't believe I've been neglecting this nail polish for so long. Too much regret.

OPI Planks A Lot is a tone down lilac or muted pastel lilac, or grayish lilac depending on the light. I used 2 coats and the formula is just amazing. The opaque smooth finish, the way the brush glides and the way it even out by itself is something that you always hope for a bottle of nail polish. 

 It is lighter than what it actually looks on the bottle-completely unattractive if you'll base the color on the bottle alone. Too unfair for this as I judged solely based on that. But Lo and Behold! when it's finally dry in your nails :)

i love this to bits!

xoxo,

chaye

Recalling 8 Suites by Fat Jimmy's

(credit: photo above is from their site)

A few months ago, we were able to book a night stay at Canyon Cove. But I was contemplating if I'm gonna cancel coz we will spend at least three hours drive just to spent 2 days and 1 night there. We used to stay there for 3 days & 2 nights so it's kinda worth the long drive. DH feels my disappointment so he suggest to look for a hotel in Tagaytay where we can spend the day before we head out to Canyon Cove in Nasugbu, Batangas, the following day. So i agreed. I was kinda eyeing for a night stay at The Boutique: Bed and Breakfast but it's fully booked. So I search & search until my browser find the photo above. It was love at first sight. :)

8 Suites by Fat Jimmy's is located inside a none gated village in Iruhin, Tagaytay City, right after Crosswinds, Tagaytay and before you reach Tagaytay Highlands. On the main road it looks like a two-storey residential building, but a surprise is waiting for you to discover.

Upon arriving, there are two staff waiting for us at the main entrance casually chatting with the guard. They carried our stuff at the lobby where we are greeted with big smiles and warm pleasantries from the front desk staff.  I first noticed the fresh plants inside the lobby, a plus point.

 The lobby looks welcoming, comfortable, and spacious. The sunlight's peeking into the glass wall part of the lobby. I love it.  

One of the staff accompanied me at the comfy sofa at the lobby while DH is busy filling out something at the front desk and nephew is too busy lurking around.

We waited for a few minutes at the lobby as they double check the cleanliness, completeness and safety of the room. Good point on providing the second floor with complete overlooking view of the entire lobby, making it look and feel a lot more bigger :)

 The hotel have 8 suites, hence the name :) They have three Deluxe Suites, three Premier Suites and two Sweetest Suites. You can check their rates here. We booked for the Deluxe Suite coz it comes with two Queen sized. We need two beds coz my nephew/godson Andrei tagged along. 

The Deluxe Suite is quite good. The color combinations of the wall and fixtures are eye soothing and very relaxing. The room smells of lavender. The beds are soft, it's pillow top bed. They have generous enough to provide a 300 thread count linens and goose down pillows.

The room is equipped with a 32" flat screen TV, dvd player, ipod dock, personal ref, closet, electric pot with selection of coffee, tray of junk foods and an album with list of movies and books that you can borrow.

 They have  a nice bathroom design, beautiful sink (which I forgot to photograph), immaculately clean (I'm very particular about tiles and the spaces between tiles). The rain shower head is kinda regular but I love, love, love the toiletries. They serve "Ilog Maria" spearmint and lavender soap. I'm a huge fan of Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm. They are heavenly! I also fell in love with their hair dyer, so the next time I went to Rustans, I bought the same make and model :)

 Our room opened up to a medium size terrace with two sets of two seater garden set. I didn't get to enjoy the view because it's chilly. But nephew spent a lot of time there while playing psp and bird watching. 

The view from our room terrace is amazing. 

I had a massage late afternoon. The spa is located 2 floors down (reveal; photos later) at the back. I was really excited coz I'm a sucker for massage. I had 1 1/2 hours of combination massage (Swedish & Shiatsu). It was great. 

The only thing that didn't feel great is the fact that I have to use the stairs 2 floors up to go back to our room. An elevator can help! I feel exhausted after I reached our room.

We ordered french fries and clubhouse sandwich to the room service and they delivered it, quick. It was good too. We eat out for dinner coz nephew is asking for Gerry's Grill so we drove 15 minutes back to the city proper. The night was lovely, lights are all over the city. 

DH & I had coffee after dinner and we went back to the hotel. Another 15 minute drive but it's okay :) we had fun!

We went back around 9pm and the guards & night shift staffs are very welcoming too. We ordered our preferred breakfast before we ended the night.

 I had a very good sleep here in 8 Suites. (I can't help but recall my experience in Oakwood). Morning sunrise is a beautiful sight. I can't help but be grateful. We had an option to eat al fresco, in bed and on their breakfast hall. Nephew chose the later. 

The breakfast hall have glass wall overlooking Taal Lake, too bad it's still foggy when we had our breakfast, it's not yet visible.

I wanted to sit on this beautiful breakfast table for two but then again.... nephew. 

 So we settled for the Victorian dining table. 

After breakfast, we waste no time, I'm too eager to see heir huge garden at the back. And again it's two floors down.

The garden turned out to be my favorite part. It's so amazing. It looks like an infinity garden coz behind the metal railing is a cliff that overlooked the Taal Lake. I was amazed, it was so close. From the garden you can see that the two-storey hotel at the main entrance is actually  a four floor magnificent looking building... that's the surprise :) The first floor is kinda hidden.

You can feel the serenity and your closeness to nature while in there. I loved our stay and hopefully we can stay there again. I'm currently looking for their promo rates ha ha :)

xoxo,

chaye

Orly's Iron Butterfly

I'm not actually a fan of dark polishes. In an army of 10, it's lucky if I have 1. Just recently I fell in love with blue---pastel, light, dark and even metallic. I got good feedback from friends and from IG when I wear dark polishes. So maybe I actually can pull it off. ha ha ha :) But blue is different from black so I was hesitant to get this at first. I then checked the ever dependable Google and i was sold :)

Orly's Iron Butterfly is a gorgeous grayish black that have a silver micro glitter in matte finish. This is actually the first matte finish that I love. It doesn't need shine to be gorgeous. But you can opt to finish this with a gloss and you can achieve a different look---still gorgeous though.

The application is a breeze. The brush glides so smoothly. The first coat is streaky. The second coat is perfectly and evenly covered. One thing I love about Orly is their handles. They are rubberized and contoured. You can easily grip it and it's more stable, you can easily control the flow. 

I'm really in love with this polish. Maybe I can try some more dark nail polish :)

What do you think? :) 

xoxo,

chaye

Benefit Brow Zings

 A few weeks ago I finally decided I'll just get my eyebrows plucked. For years and years, I'm so scared of plucking it coz I have a very low pain tolerance. But since shaving is too time consuming and I have to do it frequently-say 3 times a week, not to mention that eyebrow shaver is way too expensive now, I gather all my guts and dive into plucking.

First, I dropped by at Chanel counter at Alabang Town Center and asked my favorite SA (CAI of Chanel) to help me with my brows since she always wanted to pluck my brows every time we have a free make up session at the back of the Chanel counter in ATC :) lots of crying there---i tell you. And after half an hour of AW! Wait, wait! Okay! GO! awwww!!! my eyebrows are done. And i loved it!!! worth the pain! And i love that it's effortless for at least 3 weeks :)

And after a few eyebrows plucking sessions with Cai, I got curious into waxing. The very next day I went to Edsa Shangri La Mall and tried Benefits Brow Bar. It's amazing! It's pricey! And it took so long to finish. I thought the result was the same as plucking, so right there and then I decided that plucking is enough for me. Plus I can get it for free every time I purchase a Chanel product.

But wait, did I mention that I love the product that the Bene babe used on my eyebrow? So after i took my lunch I walk back at Benefit counter and purchase this amazing product called "Benefit Brow Zings". I purchase one in light for PhP1,600.00

The Benefit website describe the Brow Zing as 

"The No.1 best-selling eyebrow product in the UK!*"

As stated on their website The Brow Zings brow kit comes with a compact mirror; 2 brushes: 1) angled brush  2) blending brush; a mini tweezer; 2 palettes: 1) soft pigmented wax 2) setting powder; and a leaflet that will teach you how to perfect the shape of your beloved eyebrows. I love that it comes with a miniature tweezer that works like a full sized coz you can easily pluck brow hairs that don't belong there ha ha :)

I'm not sure if it stays the whole day coz I usually used Guerlain Meteorites as finishing powder so I can't say it last long. Mental note: use it without anything on top, next time. :)

It's amazing how a simple brow kit can change your look. The difference is outstanding. It can turn your boring eyebrows into incredibly defined and well groomed. We all love that right? :)

xoxo,

chaye

Sprinkles and Crumbs cupcake

Frostings cupcake  is my most favorite cupcake. Remember when the 5th level of Rustans Glorietta was called Heaven on the 5th? Back then the 3rd floor was my own heaven level :) It is because of the little snack bar (in front of the toy section) that offer tons of flavors of cupcakes---back when cupcakes isn't that big & hype here in the Philippines. It was the only thing that keeps me coming back to Glorietta. I was so happy then to find out that they also have a little corner in Edsa Shangri La Mall. I used to sit in their little chairs (meant for kids) and consume a cupcake or two then buy at least a dozen for take out. 

So imagine my pain and disappointment when I visit and find out they're gone. The long renovations of Rustans Shangri La moved them from another side and to another side till they're gone for good :( My leisure stroll at Shangri La Mall isn't the same anymore. I missed their Blueberry Cream Cheese, Strawberries and Cream and most especially their Ube Macapuno cupcake. I miss munching my take out while I'm having my nails done at Nail Spa. 

Last time I was at Shangri La, I was making my way to National Bookstore and there it is; a very chic looking cupcake store. It says "Sprinkle & Crumbs". And i totally forgot to take a photo! Stupid me! 

The packaging is so cute. 

Looking at their display is a bit overwhelming. It took me a while to decide. And since their price aren't that high I chose to try their most expensive (PhP 60.00) and one of their cheapest cupcake. I just ordered 2 red velvet, 1 chocolate velvet and a vanilla cupcake. Prices range between PhP 40-60 each, depending on the flavor. 

I ate them all after I got home. Well, hubby and I shared each. And surprise, surprise!!! Their red velvet cupcakes are actually good. They're fluffy, moist, not too sweet (for me) and delectable. Worth the price, if I may say! 

xoxo,

chaye

China Glaze's Ahoy!

Ahoy! is a part of Anchors Away Collection that was released in 2011. Unfortunately for me, the nearest distributor of China Glaze isn't that near. And I always end up with not so popular colors. I ordered for this last 2nd quarter of 2012 and I finally got this beauty by 3rd quarter of 2012. That long! I literally jump in happiness when i received a text message that this was finally restocked. 

Ahoy is a pretty deep magenta. On the bottle and on nails, it's a jelly deep magenta.

It has micro golden glass like shimmer that's very difficult to capture on camera. 

Glass like because it just sparkles even without a top coat.

Ahoy! is one of my favorite pink polish. As I said you don't need to put on a top coat because it just glisten like a newly painted. It's always like that, even after a week. Yes, it stays that long on my nails without any chip. You can get away with just one coat but I prefer two coats, as always.

The formula is just perfect. I have other China Glaze polish that when I personally apply it I will just remove them after coz no matter how careful I am on applying, I always mess up. And I always end up going to a nail salon  for professional help. This one is an exception. No streak, no visible nail lines. It's just so pigment perfect. The brush glides smoothly and most specially you can control the polish flow. Isn't just perfect? :)

I'm ecstatic about Ahoy! because it's one of the few pink polish on my stack that I can comfortably wear on my toes. I don't know with you guys but there are lots of pink nail polish that no matter how good it looks on my finger nails, I just can't feel the same way if I use it on my toe nails. Weird eh? ha ha :)

This is Ahoy! captured in artificial light. Photos above are all taken under natural light :)

Since 3rd quarter of 2012, Ahoy! has been one of my favorite pink. I use it when I'm in doubt on what color to wear and I can't decided, when I need a pop of color on a plain outfit, when I need a quick polish fix and when I'm not feeling well and I need to stay in bed so I can stare at something that can lighten my day. :)

How about you guys? What's your Ahoy! effect? Share them :)

Don't forget to follow me on IG it's @chayesanchez and @pinkrubbershoes on twitter

xoxo,

chaye

Roses in the morning

I woke up this morning and found these lovely roses on top of my vanity. Dear husband picked it up from my rose garden. Yihee!!! ;)

xoxo,
chäyë