Proudly Filipiniana: Who, what, wear

Dear Lucy,

I need to ask you three things:

1) I want to patronize Filipiniana but going to a designer is too tedious and costly; what are my options?

2) I want jewellery that is flexible in the sense that I can wear it in more ways than just one. Where do I start looking?

3) Where is a good place to have my hair colored and what brand should I use? I have virgin hair, but I am feeling adventurous and empowered. Hair color should be a good place to start!

Maricar

1) SM is a good bet. They’ve really got it all for you! They have an extensive RTW Filipiniana collection. Just ask where Kultura is.

2) Custom-made is your best choice and I only have one name for you — Jul B. Dizon Jewellery Salon. They make jewellery in such a way that you can wear it in different lovely ways, such as a stud, dangled on another piece, as a jacket, etc. Look for Candy, she designs my orders and ours is always a happy collaboration. They have shops at The Peninsula and Edsa Shangri-La.

3) For my hair color, I go to Hairworks salon (right across Greenbelt 5) and only L’Oreal touches my hair. I was very scared to color my hair before, but after a good experience with L’Oreal, under the expert hands of Jas (from Hairworks), I am all sold!

Lucy

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Yellowish teeth: The tooth of the matter

Dear Rissa,

 I find your advice and tips very helpful, that is why I am now imploring you to help me solve my teeth problem. My teeth have a yellowish color. I often get conscious of smiling or even talking — afraid that people would see how yellow my teeth are. I envy you and other models like you who have such white teeth. I cannot afford to have them whitened in a dental clinic. Is there an easy and inexpensive way to make them appear whiter? I hope you can help me on this. 

Star Girl  

Get ready for your close-up: Close Up White Now leaves your teeth with a coat of blue film, giving you a whiter smile.

I’d like to share some tricks I remember reading long ago from InStyle magazine. Lipstick is actually a magic wand that can make your yellow teeth disappear. Teeth basically come in two hues: yellow-ivory-browns and blue-gray tones.

Hold a white typing paper to test your teeth. If your teeth appear more yellow than the paper, wear red/orange hues of lipstick. This will make your teeth appear whiter. Stay away from purple and pink hues.

If your teeth appear blue-gray next to the paper, avoid the red/orange family because warm undertones make the cool color of your teeth even more obvious. Stick to bright pinks, berry, and purple.

In the supermarket, opt for a tube of Close Up White Now. This toothpaste leaves your teeth with a coat of blue film, giving you a whiter smile. Although the effects are temporary, I’ve tried it and its optical effects do give whiter teeth in an instant, right after your brush. Even the bristles of my toothbrush get coated with a blue film! It’s also best to stay away from coffee, tea, and red wine, which are the biggest culprits to tooth discoloration.

Rissa

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‘I wanna dye, but …’

Dear Ms. Tingting,

I recently used a highlighting kit that came with a cap for separating out the hair to be colored.  Now, I have vertical orange stripes all over my head.  Where did I go wrong?

Marie

You probably pulled too much hair through the cap or didn’t secure it tight enough to stop the dye from seeping through the holes.  The hair you pull through shouldn’t be thicker than a strand of spaghetti, and you should avoid getting any dye on the cap.

To fix your problem, color all your hair with a semi- or semi-permanent dye close to your original color, look for the words natural, ash, or neutral on the box.  The color, will cover the orange streaks but still leave them lighter than the rest of your hair.  Nice!  You’ll have subtler highlights than you originally wanted — but no more tiger stripes but hair that blends with your original color.

Tingting

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Send e-mail to tingtingcojuangco@yahoo.com, ltg@pldtdsl.com, and stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com.